Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM) will acquire Cayden Resources for approximately C$205 million. Cayden owns the El Barqueňo property, which covers approximately 41,000 hectares in the Guachinango gold district in Jalisco State, Mexico. It hosts a significant epithermal bonanza type gold vein and disseminated stockwork system. Several gold bearing zones have been identified by drilling and trenching in an area approximately 13.5 km long by 4.7 km wide.
Cayden geologists examine high-grade trench exposure in the Azteca Pit.
Cayden also owns the Morelos Sur property, which covers approximately 13,000 hectares in the Guerrero gold belt in Guerrero State, Mexico. Morelos Sur consists of three properties (La Magnetita, Tenantla and Las Calles), and exploration by Cayden has outlined a 25 km2 gold soil anomaly at La Magnetita, and Tenantla.
“This acquisition is consistent with our long-term strategy of acquiring promising, early-stage gold projects where we can add value through focused exploration and mine building,” said Sean Boyd, president and CEO of Agnico Eagle. “This strategy has served us well in Mexico, and we believe that the Cayden properties are a very good fit with our existing southern operations and skill sets.”
“From a technical perspective, El Barqueňo bears a lot of similarities to Pinos Altos in the early days,” said Tim Haldane, AEM’s senior vice president operations, USA and Latin America. “The property has tremendous exploration upside and several prospective zones that we believe can ultimately support heap leach and/or milling operations, which would allow us to build another meaningful business in Mexico.”
The transaction is subject to approval by Cayden security holders, Mexican anti-trust and other regulatory approvals, and court approval. Cayden’s board of directors unanimously determined that the agreement is in the best interests of Cayden and its security holders and unanimously recommended that Cayden security holders vote in favor of the agreement.
