Tinka Resources Limited (CVE:TK) (OTCPK:TKRFF) has announced that Nexa Resources S.A. (NYSE:NEXA) (NYSE:NEXA), one of the largest zinc producers worldwide, has acquired 29,895,754 common shares in the company and has become a new shareholder of Tinka holding approximately 8.8% of the issued and outstanding common shares.
The company noted that the shares were acquired by Nexa from an arm's length shareholder in a private transaction at a price of C$0.26 per share, a 13.0% premium to Tinka's closing share price on the Toronto Venture Exchange on March 16, 2021. No special rights are attached to the acquisition of the shares.
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In a statement, Tinka's president and CEO, Dr Graham Carman commented: "We welcome Nexa to our share register. Nexa is a major player in the worldwide zinc market and is the leading producer of zinc in Latin America. Nexa has several operating base metal mines in Peru and owns the only operating zinc smelter in the country. The addition of Nexa as a shareholder of Tinka is a strong endorsement of our Ayawilca zinc-silver project and of our team."
Nexa is a large-scale, low-cost integrated zinc producer with over 60 years of experience developing and operating mining and smelting assets in Latin America. It currently owns and operates five long-life underground mines - three located in the Central Andes of Peru and two located in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil - and is developing the Aripuanã Project as its sixth underground mine in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Nexa was among the top five producers of mined zinc globally in 2020 and also one of the top five metallic zinc producers worldwide in 2020, according to Wood Mackenzie.
Nexa Resources CEO Tito Martins said: "Nexa has a unique position in Peru and Brazil and we are pleased to become a new shareholder of Tinka Resources. Ayawilca is one of the largest zinc projects in development in Peru with excellent development potential as well as resource expansion. We believe it will provide us a further option to grow, maintaining the long-term sustainability of our business and adding value to all our stakeholders. We are happy to become a shareholder now during the pre-development stage."
Tinka is an exploration and development company with its flagship property being the 100%-owned Ayawilca zinc-silver project comprising 170 square kilometres in central Peru. A resource estimate dated November 2018 contains 1.8 billion pounds of zinc and 5.8 million ounces of silver in the indicated category plus 5.6 billion pounds of zinc and 25.2 million ounces of silver in the inferred category. A 7,500-metre resource expansion and infill drill program is completed with several holes yet to be reported.
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com