Shareholders Approve GCM Mining Merger With Aris Gold

 GCM Mining Corp. (TSX: GCM, OTCQX: TPRFF) announced yesterday that its shareholders have voted in favor of the previously announced acquisition of Aris Gold Corporation at as special meeting of shareholders held yesterday. GCM will acquire all the outstanding Aris Gold shares not already held by GCM, and the resulting entity will be named Aris Gold Corporation and led by Ian Telfer as Chair and Neil Woodyer as CEO and Director.

At the meeting, 30,452,708 shares were voted, representing approximately 31.19% of the issued and outstanding shares of GCM Mining, 29,577,593 shares, or 97.13% voted for the merger, and 875,115 shares representing 2.87% voted against it.

The transaction is expected to close on September 26, 2022, subject to the satisfaction or waiver of certain customary closing conditions. Following closing, Aris Mining will be a gold producer with two producing mines, two advanced development projects, and an advanced stage exploration project in the Americas.

Ian Telfer, Aris Gold Chair said that “The combined group creates a top-in-class company with multiple tier one assets. After Aris Gold became operator of the Soto Norte joint venture, joining forces with GCM became a logical next step. Our increased scale will also broaden our future opportunities to continue building a 1 million ounce plus producer over the next few years.”

Serafino Iacono, Executive Chair of GCM, stated: “Each team has unique strengths with GCM being the Colombian leader for responsible, sustainable mining practices. Together with Aris Gold’s Board and management, the combined group brings a track record of building sizable and successful mining companies; this transaction further diversifies the company’s portfolio and reaffirms Colombia as an area of focus. While I am stepping down from a day-to-day executive role, I will remain a director and advisor on matters in Colombia as well as an enthusiastic securityholder.”

“We are building a gold mining business with scale, cash flow, a strong financial position with US$397 million of cash and US$260 million of additional committed funding, and a high-quality growth pipeline. Our teams are well known to each other, and together we will optimize the delivery of the growth projects to unlock shareholder value,” added Neil Woodyer, CEO of Aris Gold.

Photo: GCM Mining