18 CIM Magazine V ol 15 No 3 billion ov er six y ear s t o c ontinue pr o duction at K ennec ot t until 2032 T h e e xpansion w ould allo w mining t o c o n tinue int o ne w ar eas of the or e body and w ould help the mine pr oduc e an estimat ed 1 000 000 t onnes of r e f ined c opper fr om 20 26 t o 2032 T he c o m pan y also declar ed that it w ould cut the mine s c arbon f ootprint by perma nently closing it s c oal f ir ed po w e r plant and sour cing r ene w able ener gy c e rtif ic at es K ennec ot t pr oduc ed 186 8 00 t onnes of mined c opper and pr oduc ed 184 600 t onnes of r e f ined c opper in 2019 r epr e senting an eight per c ent and f i v e per c ent dr op r espectiv ely c ompar ed t o the full y ear 2018 A c c o r ding t o Rio Tint o s f ourth quart er r eport this w as due t o incr eased gr ade v ariability r educ ed c o p per c onc entr at e a v ailability as w ell as planned and unplanned maint enanc e at the smelt er Matthew P arizot E v en though it f inally manag ed t o close a 101 million nonbr ok er ed priv at e plac ement of c ommon shar es Silv e r C r est Met als Inc e xperienc ed f i r sthand the challeng es C O VID 19 pr esent s t o c ompa nies looking f or in v estment deals as an earlier agr eement c ollapsed due t o c o n c erns about ho w the virus w ould aff ect the mining industry and the mark et s On April 1 7 V anc ou v e r based Silv e r Cr est is sued a st at ement sa ying that the curr ent deal which w as originally announc ed on April 13 f or 7 5 million w as ov er subscribed and that the f inal det ails sa w the c ompan y is sue 13 4 65 001 c ommon shar es at a pric e of 7 50 per shar e r esulting in gr os s pr oc eeds of 100 987 50 7 50 T his happened r oughly a month af t e r an agr eement bet w een the miner and some institutional in v est or s initially c ame t o g ether and f ell apart all ov er the c our se of one w eek in Mar ch When the V anc ou v e r based e xplo r a tion c ompan y with a f ocus on the L a s Chispas mining district in Sonor a Me x ic o is sued a st at ement on Mar ch 11 e v e ry thing w as positiv e a s yndic at e of underwrit er s led by N a tional Bank Financial Inc Eight Capit al Corp and Sc otia Capit al Inc had agr eed t o pur chase 9 100 000 c ommon shar es of the Silv e r C r est on a bought deal basis at a pric e of 8 25 per shar e In t o t al the deal w as w o rth a minimum of 7 5 0 7 5 000 with the pot ential f or an e v en gr eat er in v estment as pr ovisions w e r e included f or the pur chase of an additional 15 per c ent of the Silv e r C r est shar es Silv e r C r est planned t o use the fund ing t o c ontinue e xplor ation and de v elop ment of it s L as Chispas pr oject a f easibility study is curr ently underw a y and a decision about st arting c onstruc tion is e xpect ed t o be made this summer and f or g ener al w orking c apit al and administr ativ e purposes T h at plan however is now in jeopar dy On Mar ch 18 the miner is sued a st at ement e xplain ing that it has r e c eiv ed notic e fr om N a tional Bank Financial Inc purporting t o t erminat e it s oblig ations T he r eason cit ed f or the chang e of heart is C O VID 1 9 T he pandemic is being used t o trig g er what is kno wn as the disast er out clause in the off ering agr eement Mar ch 11 w as also the da y the W orld Health Or g aniz ation f ormally declar ed the outbr eak of the virus a pandemic noting at that point ther e w e r e 118 000 c onf irmed c ases in 11 4 c ountries O ur decision t o e x er cise this clause along with Sc otia and Eight Capit al our c ollectiv e decision w as not bec ause of the c ompan y T his is not a r e f lection on Silver C r est It is h owever a r e f lection r eally on what has chang ed and chang ed v e ry dr amatic ally sinc e Mar ch 11 said T o r ont o based Brian Da vis c o pr esident and c o C EO of N a tional Bank Financial Inc What w e identif ied in particular w a s ho w the epidemic has spr ead and bec ame lat er that e v ening designat ed as a pandemic by the W orld Health Or g ani z a tion T h at has led t o bor der closur es tr a v el r estrictions declar ations of st at es of emer g ency T hese measur es aff ect us domestic ally and int ernationally And the y ha v e clearly pr of oundly adv e r sely aff ect ed the f inancial mark et s in g ener al SilverCrest planned to use the funding to continue exploration and development of its Las Chispas project in Mexico C O VID 19 scut tles Silv e rCr est mining deal S yndic at e of f inancial f irms backs out of 7 5 million agr eement t o in v est in junior miner By Car olyn Gruske Courtesy of SilverCr est Metals