Australia鈥檚 South32 (ASX, LON, JSE:S32)聽is investing some of its $1.5 billion of cash in a minority stake in Canada-listed Arizona Mining (TSX:AZ), which plans to develop a zinc-lead-silver project in Arizona.
Deal comes only two weeks after South32 walked away from a聽$200 million planned acquisition聽of Peabody Energy鈥檚 coal mine聽in New South Wales.
As part of , worth Cdn$110.3 million (about $81million), the Perth-based miner has agreed to purchase 45 million shares of the Canadian junior at a price of $2.45 per share. That represents about 15% of Arizona Mining鈥檚 outstanding shares.
The Canadian firm to advance its Hermosa project, in particular to move to the feasibility and permitting stage the Taylor deposit, valued by RBC Capital Markets at Cdn$1.4 billion ($1bn).
鈥淭his is a highly prospective project and is another step in our strategy to identify opportunities outside of our current portfolio,鈥� South32 chief executive officer, Graham Kerr, said in .
The agreement comes only two weeks after South32 decided to ditch of Peabody Energy鈥檚 coal mine聽in the eastern Australian state of New South Wales, which would have been the firm鈥檚 first聽major deal聽since spinning off from聽BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) in 2015.