Time to Deal, Sandeep We've been very loyal and excruciating patient.
Rio collected a bunch of rights as it was building its 9.7 per cent stake in Western Copper and Gold over five transactions in the past four years.
Some of those rights ensure Rio can’t be diluted in share issuances, while others give Rio the right to have observers sit in on the company’s board meetings and technical committee meetings.
But those rights will expire in May 2025, meaning the dual-listed miner has some degree of incentive to move fast if it wants to own the Casino copper and gold project that Western has found near the border of Alaska and the Canadian Yukon territory.
Casino would cost more than $4 billion to build; a near-impossible task for an explorer with a market capitalisation of $337 million.
Rio is not the only cashed-up global player sitting on Western’s register; Japanese firm Mitsubishi owns 4.1 per cent of the explorer and has similar rights, which will expire in March.
Rio has spent about $44 million buying shares in the explorer and no one will be surprised if it buys more in 2025.