M2 Cobalt and Jervois Mining complete merger, creating a significant East African mineral company

M2 Cobalt Corp (CVE:MC) completed its merger with Jervois Mining Limited (ASX:JRV), the companies announced on Tuesday evening.

The Vancouver-based company announced in April that it plans to merge with Jervois and, subsequently, Idaho cobalt company eCobalt Solutions Inc (TSE:ECS).

The newly formed company will have projects in Australia, East Africa and the US, including eCobalt’s Idaho Cobalt project, which boasts the highest combination of cobalt grade and scale in North America. The acquisition of M2 Cobalt gives Jervois an entry into Uganda, complementing its East African strategy looking at opportunities around the historic Kilembe mine and Kasese cobalt refinery.

Post-closing, the company will continue to be led by Jervois CEO Bryce Crocker. Simon Clarke, M2’s current CEO, will join Jervois as a non-executive director, while its current CFO Andy Edelmeier will assume the role of interim CFO at Jervois.

Under the terms of the transaction, Jervois will automatically acquire the issued and outstanding common shares of M2 Cobalt in exchange for issuing nearly 64 million Jervois shares to M2’s shareholders representing approximately A$14.7 million.

As part of the transaction, Jervois extended a US$3 million bridge loan to M2, of which US$1.8 million is currently drawn. The loan supports the current field exploration at M2’s Bujagali project in south central Uganda and the Kilembe project in the west of the country.

According to Jervois, Uganda has similar geological trends to its neighbor Democratic Republic of Congo, but with greater political and regulatory stability.

New listing

Upon completion of the deal, M2’s shares on the TSX Venture Exchange will be delisted as of market close on June 20, subject to regulatory approval. M2 will also begin the process of applying to cease to be a reporting issuer in Canada.

Conversely, Jervois has received final acceptance from the TSX Venture Exchange to complete a secondary listing on its exchange in addition to its primary ASX listing. Shares are expected to start trading on the exchange around June 21 under the symbol JRV.

The Australian miner also applying to list on the OTCQX market for US shareholders, which remains subject to approval.

In preparation for its Canadian listing, Jervois also said that it had commissioned a NI 43-101 compliant preliminary economic assessment for its Nico Young nickel-cobalt project in Australia. The company said that it would direct the bulk of its financial resources to its new projects in East Africa, calling Nico Young an “attractive opportunity for development” once commodity prices improve, but not material to the future prospects of the company.

Update on eCobalt

In April, M2 and Jervois announced that the newly combined company is merging with Idaho cobalt company eCobalt Solutions Inc (TSE:ECS).

Jervois and M2 told investors that eCobalt shareholders are expected to vote on its merger with Jervois on July 19. According to Jervois, 19.2% of eCobalt’s outstanding shares are committed to approving the merger, with a 66.6% majority of shareholders required for final approval.

Jervois’s shareholders are expected to vote on the issue of shares in connection with the merger on July 18. If both parties receive a two-thirds majority approval, the merger will be finalized by July 23.

Contact Angela at [email protected]

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Story by ProactiveInvestors