Kalahari Metals is claimed to hold the second largest tenure in the Botswana part of the Kalahari Copper Belt
Cobre takes full ownership of Kalahari Metals. (Credt: Łukasz Klepaczewski from Pixabay)
Australian mineral exploration company Cobre has completed the previously announced acquisition of the remaining 49% interest in Kalahari Metals (KML) to take its ownership in the latter to 100%.
Kalahari Metals is said to hold the second largest tenure in the Botswana part of the Kalahari Copper Belt. The total area held by the company is around 5,348km2.
As per the terms of the transaction announced in June 2022, Cobre has acquired 24.5% of Kalahari Metals’ shares from UK-based copper ores company Metal Tiger for £750,000 in cash.
Subsequently, the remaining 24.5% stake was acquired for about four million Cobre shares at a deemed issue price of A$0.29 ($0.2) per share. This was after taking the 12-month call option up-front that was given by Metal Tiger.
Cobre has also repaid a five-year loan of $1.3m owed by Kalahari Metals by issuing 6.6 million of its shares at a deemed issue price of A$0.29 ($0.2) per share.
The Australian firm will also issue 9.8 million shares at A$0.15 ($0.1) per share on approval of shareholders and receipt of roughly A$1.5m ($1.01m) placement funds from Metal Tiger, which currently has about 20.6% stake in Cobre.
According to Cobre executive chairman and managing director Martin Holland, the deal allows the company to fully tap the exploration potential of Kalahari Metals, which will continue to unlock significant value for shareholders.
Holland said: “With the KML transaction now complete, Cobre is ready to take advantage of this incredible opportunity in the Kalahari Copper Belt.
“We aim to unlock the full value of these Botswana assets through a strategic and well-planned exploration program using our strong Africa-based technical team, and we look forward to continuing to update the market as the program progresses.”