First Quantum Minerals and Lumina Copper have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which First Quantum will acquire, by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement, all of the outstanding securities of Lumina. Lumina is the 100% owner of the Taca Taca copper deposit located in the Puna region of Salta Province in northwest Argentina, some 120 km east of Escondida, the world’s largest producing copper mine. Taca Taca currently has a reported NI 43-101 compliant indicated mineral resource estimate of about 9.6 Mt of copper contained in 2,170 Mt grading 0.44% Cu, 0.08g/t Au and 0.013% Mo (0.57% Cu equivalent) and an Inferred mineral resource estimate of approximately 3.4 Mt of copper contained in 921 Mt grading 0.37% Cu, 0.05 g/t Au and 0.012% Mo (0.47% Cu equivalent), using a 0.3% copper equivalent cutoff. These estimates are defined by 148,000 m of drilling. The deposit remains open in some areas to depth and along the southern boundary of the northeast limb.

Commenting on the proposed transaction, Ross Beaty, Lumina’s founder and largest shareholder said, “I am very pleased with First Quantum’s intended acquisition of our company. First Quantum is an outstanding mining company with a significant and growing portfolio of copper operations. In our view, they are the most capable company in the world to develop Taca Taca into a major copper mine. This transaction provides Lumina shareholders with the option to retain exposure to Taca Taca’s future development in the hands of a world class mine development and operating team through ownership of First Quantum’s shares. I encourage all Lumina shareholders to vote in favour of this transaction.”

Philip Pascall, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Quantum said, “The acquisition of Lumina is another step in First Quantum’s long-stated objective of geographical diversification through the acquisition of worldclass, early-stage copper assets. Taca Taca will significantly add to First Quantum’s development pipeline and is at the stage where we can apply our resources and development expertise to realize its full potential and further add to First Quantum’s copper production profile. Once the acquisition of Lumina has been completed we will immediately review the Taca Taca project to determine the most efficient and economical timing for its development in the context of the projects that we are currently developing.”

The Boards of Directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.

First Quantum Minerals is an established and rapidly growing mining and metals company operating seven mines and developing five projects worldwide. It produces copper, nickel, gold, zinc and PGMs. The current operations are the Kansanshi copper-gold mine in Zambia, Las Cruces copper mine in Spain, the Guelb Moghrein copper-gold mine in Mauritania, the Ravensthorpe nickel-cobalt mine in Western Australia, the Kevitsa nickel-copper-PGE mine and the Pyhäsalmi copper-zinc mine in Finland and the Çayeli copper-zinc mine in Turkey.