Surge Copper has closed the acquisition of a 100% interest in the Berg Property in British Columbia, Canada, from Thompson Creek Metals Company (TCM), a subsidiary of Centerra Gold.

The deal resulted in the issuance of around 21.22 million Surge Copper shares at C$0.075 apiece, equating to a total deemed consideration of C$1.59m.

It led to the termination of the December 2020 option agreement between Surge Copper and TCM.

Following the transaction, TCM's stake in Surge Copper has increased to around 15%, representing around 33.07 million common shares.

These issued shares are subject to a statutory hold period of four months and a day.

The company has received conditional acceptance from the Toronto Stock Exchange Venture Exchange (TSXV), with final acceptance pending the review of customary closing items, which have been submitted to the TSXV.

The consideration shares acquired by TCM are for investment purposes.

In a statement, Surge Copper said: “TCM has no current plans or intentions which relate to, or would result in, acquiring additional securities of the Company, disposing of securities of the Company.”

It added: “TCM may, depending on market and other conditions, increase or decrease its beneficial ownership of or control or direction over Surge Copper securities, whether in the open market, by privately negotiated agreements or otherwise, subject to many factors, including general market conditions and other available investment and business opportunities.”

The Berg project is expected to produce around 5.8 billion pounds of copper equivalent, including 3.7 billion pounds of copper, over a 30-year mine life.

As per Surge Copper’s preliminary economic assessment, the project is estimated to have a net present value of C$2.1bn, at an 8% discount, and an internal rate of return of 20%.