Black Range Minerals shares closed on a high today on news it had received a takeover proposal from Canadian-based Western Uranium Corporation for all of the company’s shares.
The offer values Black Range at $18.5 million, or 0.62 cents per share, representing a 106 per cent premium to the company’s last closing price of 0.3 cents per share, and a 20 per cent premium to its 20-day volume weighted average price.
Under the offer, shareholders will receive one Western Uranium share for every 750 Black Range shares.
Western Uranium owns multiple near-term development projects in the US, including the Sunday Mine complex in Colorado, which has a large stockpile of uranium-vanadium ore at surface.
The proposal is subject to a number of terms and conditions, but the board of Black Range has recommended its shareholders accept the offer in the absence of a superior proposal.
“The offer will provide Black Range shareholders with the opportunity to become part of a larger uranium company,” the company said in a statement.
As part of the transaction, Western Uranium will provide Black Range with a $750,000 loan facility, to "ensure Black Range is suitably financed through to completion (of the transaction)".
Black Range, a Subiaco-based uranium explorer, owns the Hansen/Taylor Ranch uranium project in Colorado, and holds a 50 per cent interest in the emerging proprietary Ablation technology, which is being developed to reduce the capital and operating cost of recovering uranium from conventional sandstone-hosted uranium deposits.
It also owns the Shootaring Canyon mill in Utah, which it bought from Canadian miner Uranium One for $US8.5 million in October 2013.
Black Range shares surged 33 per cent to 0.4 cents per share at the close of trade.
