Chairman of Zijin said, “We believe that the Aurora mine is a high-quality gold asset with significant upside potential, which we believe will be highly complementary to Zijin’s existing mining asset portfolio.” Zijin previously acquired Nevsun Resources in a takeover bid valued at US$1.41 billion back in 2018.

Guyana Goldfields received the offer from Zijin to purchase all of its shares and was determined to be a “superior proposal” to the one made by Silvercorp Metals Inc. back in April. The offer valued Guyana Goldfields at C$323 million. Silvercorp. decided not to exercise its “right to match” and will not increase the consideration payable to Guyana Goldfields shareholders. Following its initial offer, Silvercorp had amended its agreement in May, which valued the company at C$227 million.

Zijin has also agreed to provide Guyana Goldfields with a US$30 million secured loan facility to finance ongoing operations of the Aurora gold mine and to fund other liquidity needs of the company. Based on the closing price of the Silvercorp common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange as of June 3, the new proposal represents a premium of approximately 35% to the implied value of Silvercorp’s proposal. If Guyana Goldfields terminates the arrangement agreement with Silvercorp, it will receive a termination fee of C$9 million.