McEwen Mining Inc. announced a new investment of up to $70 million in its subsidiary McEwen Copper Inc. This investment will be made through a private sale of up to 2,333,333 common shares of McEwen Copper at a price of $30.00 per share, and will be mainly focused on the growth of the Los Azules copper project, one of the five megaprojects located in the province of San Juan.
By Panorama Minero
The main investments already committed come from McEwen Mining and Rob McEwen, the company's CEO and renowned mining entrepreneur, who will purchase 27% of the shares offered. While McEwen Mining will buy shares worth $14 million, Rob McEwen will invest an additional $5 million. However, the company confirmed in a statement that these investments will be subject to certain rights of existing McEwen Copper shareholders. The remaining shares will only be available to qualified investors who can invest at least $2 million. The shares sold in this offering are private and cannot be freely traded until they are listed on a public exchange.
The funds raised will be used to develop a financial feasibility study for the Los Azules copper project, one of San Juan's flagship projects in the race to start copper operations nationwide. This study is crucial to determine the economic viability of the project and is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Before this new investment, McEwen Mining owned 47.7% of McEwen Copper and Rob McEwen owned 12.9%. If the offering is completed, McEwen Mining will own 45.8% and Rob McEwen will own 12.5%, respectively.
McEwen Copper owns 100% of the Los Azules copper project, one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world. According to the 2023 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), Los Azules has 10.9 billion pounds of copper with a grade of 0.40% (indicated category) and an additional 26.7 billion pounds with a grade of 0.31% (inferred category). The report also estimates that the project could generate a net value of $2.7 billion after taxes, with a very low production cost and a mine life of 27 years.
"This feasibility study will also show how Los Azules will be different from other copper mines, using less water, emitting less carbon, and operating with 100% renewable energy by 2038," the company stated in its latest release.
