Hudbay Minerals and Marubeni sign option agreement for Flin Flon projects

Hudbay Minerals announced the signing of an option agreement with Marubeni, pursuant to which Hudbay has granted Marubeni’s wholly-owned Canadian subsidiary an option to acquire a 20% interest in three projects located within trucking distance of Hudbay’s processing facilities in Flin Flon, Manitoba. In order to exercise the Option, amongst other things, Marubeni will fund at least CA$12M in exploration expenditures over a period of approximately five years with Hudbay acting as operator and carrying out the exploration activities. Upon successful completion of Marubeni’s earn-in obligations, a joint-venture will be formed to hold the selected projects with Hudbay, acting as operator, holding an 80% interest and Marubeni holding the remaining 20% interest. The execution of the Agreement follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the parties that set out the framework for a multi-year exploration partnership, as previously announced in July 2023. Highlights of the agreement include: During the earn-in period, Marubeni will fund exploration expenditures of up to CA$12M across three highly prospective projects over five years. A significant budget of CA$7M has been agreed to for the 2025 winter exploration program; upon successful completion of Marubeni’s earn-in obligations, Marubeni may exercise its Option to form a joint venture with Hudbay for any of the designated projects; the joint venture will allow both parties to jointly pursue development of the projects, with Hudbay holding an 80% interest and Marubeni holding the remaining 20% interest; after formation of the joint venture, all subsequent costs for exploration and development of the properties will be funded by each member in proportion to their respective participating interest; Hudbay will act as the joint venture operator and manage work programs to progress the exploration and development efforts.