Noranda and Falconbridge Acquire New Mining Properties

Noranda Inc. and Falconbridge Limited have acquired the Lomas Bayas copper mine and the Fortuna de Cobre exploration property in Chile from Boliden Limited. The purchase price is US$175 million less third-party debt and cash balances and, if Noranda and Falconbridge exercise the right to retain the Fortuna de Cobre property, an additional US$15 million.

Steven Astritis, Hillar Pinna and Julie Galloway are Noranda’s in-house counsel, and in-house counsel at Falconbridge is Jeff Snow. McCarthy Tétrault represents the offshore subsidiaries of Noranda and Falconbridge with a team including Garth Girvan, Richard Miner (mining), Ian Arellano, Phil Kurtz, France Tenaille, Alejandra C. Flah (Latin American M&A), Robert Stephenson (banking) and Gabrielle M. Richards (tax). In addition to the acquisition, McCarthy Tétrault is advising Noranda/Falconbridge on the potential restructuring of the external debt owing by the Lomas Bayas project to an existing banking syndicate.

McMillan Binch represents Boliden with a team that includes Robert Scavone, William Woloshyn, Andrew McFarlane and Ilana Singer. Local Chilean counsel for Noranda and Falconbridge is Cariola Diez Pérez-Cotapos, while local counsel for Boliden is Carey y Cía. Ltda. The Cariola team is headed by Carlos Pérez-Cotapos and includes Sebastián Obach and Gonzalo Grez. The Carey law firm is led by Claudio Lizana, with Daniel Altikes and Mauricio Alvarez assisting.