£867 million, Chinese giants acquire top copper-gold mine in South America! The mine has been validated by international peers for many years, but has been hesitant due to high development difficulty

On December 24, Jiangxi Copper (600362.SH) announced that the company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Jiangxi Copper Hong Kong Investment, has made a formal offer to acquire all issued and to be issued share capital of SolGold plc at a cash price of 28 pence per share on December 24, 2025 (London local time), excluding the shares already held by the company.

The formal offer price values the total issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of the target company at approximately £867 million (about RMB 8.2 billion).

Received Commitments from Target Company Shareholders with a Premium of Approximately 42.9% Compared to Initial Contact

The announcement stated that the board of directors of SolGold (the target company) believes that the terms of this acquisition are fair and reasonable. The board of directors of the target company unanimously recommends its shareholders to vote in favor of the acquisition at the court meeting and to vote in favor of the relevant resolutions at the shareholders' meeting.

As of the date of this announcement, Jiangxi Copper Hong Kong Investment has received irrevocable commitment letters from the target company's shareholders BHP, Newmont, and Maxit Capital LP (and its affiliates), committing to vote in favor of the acquisition proposal at the court meeting and to vote in favor of the relevant resolutions at the shareholders' meeting. These shareholders hold a total of 773,642,395 shares of the target company, accounting for approximately 25.7% of the target company's issued share capital.

In addition, Jiangxi Copper Hong Kong Investment has received irrevocable commitment letters from the directors of the target company regarding their holdings of the target company's shares, collectively representing 83,597,123 shares of the target company, accounting for approximately 2.8% of the target company's issued share capital.

According to Jiangxi Copper's announcement on December 13, the cash price of 28 pence per share represents a premium of approximately 42.9% over the target company's closing price of 19.6 pence per share on November 19, 2025 (the last trading day before the company first contacted the target company's board). It represents a premium of approximately 58.5% over the target company's three-month volume-weighted average share price of about 17.6 pence as of November 27, 2025 (the last trading day before the target company announced the company's preliminary acquisition proposal); a premium of approximately 136% over the target company's twelve-month volume-weighted average share price of about 11.8 pence as of November 27, 2025; and a premium of approximately 7.1% over the target company's closing price of approximately 26.2 pence on November 27, 2025 (which has increased by 33.4% since November 19, 2025).

Jiangxi Copper stated that upon completion of this transaction, the target company will be included in the company's consolidated financial statements. The company is the largest single shareholder of the target company, aligning with the long-term goals of the target company's management, which is committed to establishing a clear development path for the Cascabel project and promoting the project's production With the company's technological capabilities, engineering, supply chain strength, and financial resources, as well as the project experience accumulated from past investments, the company believes it can boost the development of the Cascabel project through this acquisition, thereby unlocking its future growth potential. The transaction aligns with the company's development strategy and is beneficial for further enhancing the company's resource reserves.

Owns South America's top copper-gold mine, verified for many years, but with high development difficulty

The target company was established in 2006 and is a mineral exploration and development company registered in the UK, headquartered in Perth, Australia, and listed on the London Stock Exchange (stock code: SOLG). The core asset is a 100% stake in the Cascabel project located in Ecuador.

The Cascabel copper-gold mine project is located in the Imbabura province of northern Ecuador, and is one of the world's most important undeveloped porphyry copper-gold deposits, expected to become a landmark mining project in South America, referred to by the industry as "the world's most promising undeveloped copper mine." The mine is situated in the Andean mineralization belt of South America, which is the richest "golden corridor" for copper resources globally.

Jiangxi Copper announced that the main Alpala deposit of the project has completed a preliminary feasibility study, with proven, controlled, and inferred resource amounts: copper 12.2 million tons, gold 30.5 million ounces, silver 102.3 million ounces, including confirmed and inferred reserves: copper 3.2 million tons, gold 940,000 ounces, silver 2.8 million ounces.

However, according to Jiemian News, the mine has been verified by international mining giants for many years but has hesitated due to high development difficulty.

Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) shows that global copper demand will reach 36 million tons by 2030, a 53% increase from 2020, while the supply side faces a "depletion crisis." Over the past decade, the number of large copper mines discovered globally has decreased by 60%, and easily accessible high-grade copper mines are nearly depleted. By 2026, the copper market supply gap may widen to 500,000 tons, indicating that copper mines will enter a "competition for existing resources" in the next decade.

Since the beginning of this year, precious metal prices have risen. On December 24, international gold, silver, and copper prices all reached historical highs, with spot gold breaking the $4,500 per ounce mark, up over 70% for the year; spot silver standing at $72 per ounce, with an annual increase approaching 150%; and London copper prices breaking the $12,000 per ton mark for the first time during trading.

Financial report data shows that Jiangxi Copper's revenue for the first three quarters of 2025 was 396.047 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.98%; net profit attributable to shareholders was 6.023 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 20.85%. Among them, the net profit for the third quarter was 1.849 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 35.20%.

On December 25, Jiangxi Copper's stock price rose, closing at 43.92 yuan in A-shares, up over 120% for the year; and 37.24 Hong Kong dollars in Hong Kong stocks, up over 230% for the year.

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