The Chinese company Zijin Mining will invest approximately US$97 million in the copper and gold producer Solaris Resources Inc., acquiring a 15 per cent stake upon closing.
Zijin aims to enhance its stature and influence in the copper market. The company announced Friday that it has become the first Chinese miner with annual copper output exceeding 1 million tonnes.
The funds provided by Zijin, a US$43.8 billion company, will primarily be utilized for development of the Warintza copper project in Ecuador run by Solaris.
“We take tremendous pride in announcing our new strategic partnership with Zijin and look forward to leveraging its deep technical expertise and financial capacity in delivering the full potential of one of the last remaining greenfield copper districts,” Daniel Earle, Solaris CEO, said.
The Warintza project is estimated to contain 379 million tonnes of copper grading at 0.47 per cent. It also contains significant quantities of molybdenum and gold. Vancouver-based Solaris plans to publish an updated resource estimate in mid-2024.
Source: Mugglehead
