Hochschild makes offer for Chilean firm Andina

Hochschild Mining, a gold and silver miner, has made an all-cash offer for Andina Minerals, a move the directors of Andina have given their support to.

Hochschild has said it will pay C$0.80 per share, which values the firm at C$103m on a fully-diluted basis.

Andina owns the Dorado Gold Deposit, located at the Volcan Gold Project in the prolific Maricunga gold belt in Chile as well as a 49% interest in Hochschild's Encrucijada project close to Dorado and a 50% share in Pampa Buenos Aires, a gold and silver property in Northern Chile.

Hochschild said the acquisition is in line with its strategy of pursuing highly value accretive, early stage opportunities with strong geological conditions and full control.

Ignacio Bustamante, Chief Executive, commented: "The acquisition of Andina Minerals provides Hochschild with further long-term optionality as well as geographical balance within our extensive project pipeline with its principal asset, Dorado, being located in one of our preferred mining-friendly jurisdictions in the Americas.

"Although we recognise the challenges associated with the project, we expect to conduct further substantial geological and technical evaluation work on the deposit and are confident that our experienced geological and operational teams will develop its strong potential. Despite this transaction representing approximately 4% of Hochschild's market capitalisation, it could ultimately deliver significant growth."

Shares in the company fell 0.12% by late morning.

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