Glencore and Pan American Silver Corp. have reached an agreement for Glencore to acquire the 56.25 percent stake in the MARA Project from Pan American, becoming its sole owner.

Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore will pay $475 million in cash upon closing and grant Pan American a copper Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty of 0.75 percent.

The project was first formed through the integration of the Minera Alumbrera plant and mining infrastructure and Agua Rica project in a joint venture between Yamana Gold, Glencore and Newmont in December 2020.

Glencore acquired Newmont’s 18.75 percent stake in October 2022, bringing its shareholding to 43.75 percent. Pan American acquired Yamana Gold’s 56.25 percent stake as part of its acquisition of Yamana Gold Inc. in March 2023.

MARA, located in the Catamarca province of Argentina, has proven and probable mineral reserves of 5.4 million tonnes of copper and 7.4 million ounces of gold contained in 1.105 billion tonnes of ore. It has a 27-year mine life based on mineral reserves supported by more than 86 kms of drilling.

The brownfield MARA project ranks as one of the lowest capital-intensive copper projects in the world today, owing to the existing well maintained Alumbrera processing plant and associated infrastructure. MARA is expected to be in the top 25 global copper producers when operational, with an expected average copper production over the first 10 full years exceeding 200 kt per annum (with further material by-product credits).

Image is the Lomas Bayas copper operation in Chile and courtesy of Glencore.