International Millennium, Elephant Copper to merge

Vancouver-based International Millennium Mining (TSXV: IMI), which has exploration properties in B.C. and Nevada, is adding ground to its portfolio in Africa through a planned merger with a slightly larger private company called Elephant Copper.

Elephant Copper’s flagship asset is Mkushi, a copper project in Zambia. Mkushi produced copper between 1969 and 1975 and is described as a Proterozoic-age copper-gold porphyry style deposit.

Elephant’s other two projects are earlier stage, with little exploration so far: the Otjinoko project in the Kalahari Copper Belt of eastern Namibia and the Midgell project in the Kalahari Copper Belt of Botswana.

Midgell consists predominantly of meta-sedimentary formations associated with the Proterozoic belt going through Botswana, while Otjinoko lies predominantly on an unknown Achaean lithology and Karoo volcanics with the Lebung Group, Ecca Group and Mamuno Formation making a minor appearance.

For its part, International Millennium brings to the table its advanced exploration Nivloc project, a past-producing silver-gold mine in Nevada, about 11 km southwest of Silver Peak and 272 km southeast of Reno. The Nivloc mine operated from 1937-1943.

Based on drilling from 2011, Nivloc has a National Instrument 43-101-compliant inferred resource of 1.64 million tonnes grading 106.47 grams silver per tonne and 0.78 gram gold per tonne, at a cut-off grade of 40 grams silver per tonne.

Mineralization at Nivloc is described as being a quartz-adularia epithermal vein system.

In addition, International Millennium owns a former producing polymetallic mine called Simon in the Walker-Lane Trend south of Reno. The mine was shut down in the late 1960s and the company describes the project on its website as an “exploration and development play offering both size and grade potential for longer-term mining.”

International Millennium also owns the Wild Goose silver-lead-zinc exploration property on Copeland Creek, about 25 km northwest of Revelstoke, B.C., and 400 km northeast of Vancouver.

Under the proposed business combination, International Millennium will acquire all of the shares of Elephant, which also must complete a financing for proceeds of not less than $1 million at an issue price of not less than 30 cents per share.

Under the deal, each shareholder of Elephant will receive one post-consolidation common share of International Millennium at a deemed value of 30 cents per IMI share for each Elephant share they own.

After the combination of the two companies is completed, Elephant shareholders will hold about 62.5% of the common shares of the new company, and International Millennium shareholders will hold about 37.5%.

Over the last year International Millennium has traded in a range of 1.5 cents and 12.5 cents per share.