South32 Ltd has completed the acquisition of the remaining 83% of issued and outstanding shares of Arizona Mining that it did not already own via a plan of arrangement. South32 Chief Executive Officer, Graham Kerr said: “The acquisition of Arizona Mining adds to our portfolio one of the most exciting base metal projects in the industry. Our deep understanding of the high-grade Hermosa project and surrounding land package, together with our extensive experience at Cannington, positions us well to bring the project to development and deliver significant value.”

Arizona Mining was focused on the exploration and development of the Hermosa project, comprising the Taylor deposit and the Central deposit. Taylor is a zinc, lead and silver resource and was the company’s primary focus. Central is a zinc, silver and manganese resource. The Hermosa project is located in Santa Cruz County about 80 km southeast of Tucson, Arizona and about 13 km north of the United States – Mexico border.

Work to enhance the design and development of the Hermosa project will begin in the coming weeks. This will include optimising studies and the commencement of the exploration decline which will allow drilling to test for extensions and further enhance understanding of the existing high-grade resource (101 Mt at 10.4% Zn equivalent. PEA completed January 2018 (project IRR 48%, pre-production capital $519 million).