TORONTO—Kinross Gold Corp. said Thursday it will acquire Canada-based Aurelian Resources Inc. for more than $1 billion in a move designed to boost its mining reserves.
Toronto-based Kinross will pay 0.317 Kinross shares, plus 0.1429 of a warrant, for each Aurelian share. The warrant will have an exercise price of $32 per Kinross share, and will expire within five years.
The deal -- worth about Canadian $1.2 billion (U.S. $1.18 billion) -- gives Kinross control over Aurelian's gold, silver and base metals reserves in Ecuador's Cordillera del Condor region.
"We intend to pursue a focused strategy to further define the deposit, and believe that this combination can make an important contribution to our future," Kinross President and Chief Executive Tye W. Burt said in a release.
Kinross expects to issue about 47 million shares, or about 8 percent of its outstanding common shares, as part of the buyout.
So far this year, Kinross' stock -- which closed Wednesday at $20.73 -- is up about 13 percent.
