VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 10,
2024 /CNW/ - Palisades Goldcorp Ltd.
(TSXV: PALI) ("Palisades") and Radio Fuels Energy
Corp. ("Radio Fuels") (CSE: CAKE) (OTCQB: CKEFF)
are pleased to announce that they have entered into a definitive
arrangement agreement dated December 9,
2024 (the "Arrangement Agreement") whereby Palisades
will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Radio
Fuels (the "Radio Fuels Shares") by way of a plan of
arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act (the
"Transaction").
Under the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, each Radio Fuels
Share will be exchanged for 0.060538 of a Palisades common share
(each a "Palisades Share"). Upon completion of the
Transaction, existing Palisades shareholders and former Radio Fuels
shareholders will own approximately 76% and 24%, respectively, of
the issued and outstanding Palisades Shares.
Highlights:
- The combined entity will create a resource focused investment
company with a strong balance sheet of $120-million in cash and marketable securities,
providing retail and institutional investors with highly levered
exposure to junior resource equities;
- Palisades will become the largest junior land holder in
Nevada when measured by mineral
tenure. The Radio Fuels (NV King Goldlands) property portfolio
currently ranks as the third largest in Nevada behind Nevada
Gold Mines (Barrick/Newmont JV) and Kinross Gold Corp.;
- The combined entity will retain exposure to the Atlanta Gold
Mine Project, currently being advanced by Nevada King Gold Corp.
(TSX-V: NKG), through the 3% net smelter royalty held by Radio
Fuels; and
- Radio Fuels shareholders will benefit from exposure to
Palisades' significant investment portfolio while continuing to
also benefit from Radio Fuels' unparalleled leverage to uranium and
rare earth elements through its 100% ownership of the Eco Ridge
Project, which has an NI 43-101 resource of 39.9Mlbs of U308 Eq
Indicated and 67.2 Mlbs of U308 Eq Inferred.
Collin Kettell, Chairman &
CEO of Palisades, commented, "We are excited to combine these two
like-minded companies into a growing investment issuer focused on
the junior segment of the resource sector. Despite record high gold
prices and broad appreciation amongst the gold producers, junior
miners and explorecos remain undercapitalized and trade at
depressed valuations. Our team is excited by this opportunity and
we expect that this combination will result in significant
synergies and increased economies of scale, while enhancing
Palisades ability to pursue its investment strategy."
Philip O'Neill, CEO &
Director of Radio Fuels, added, "This transaction represents a
significant opportunity for Radio Fuels shareholders. Palisades is
a significant investment company in the resource and mining sector
and we feel that merging the two companies will unlock additional
value for Radio Fuels shareholders while still providing Radio
Fuels shareholders with unparalleled leverage to uranium and rare
earth elements through its 100% ownership of the Eco Ridge
Project."
Further Transaction Details:
The respective boards of directors of Palisades and Radio Fuels
have unanimously (excluding directors that abstained from voting)
approved the Arrangement Agreement and the terms of the
Transaction, following the unanimous recommendation of the
respective special committees of Palisades and Radio Fuels. The
Radio Fuels board of directors unanimously recommends that Radio
Fuels shareholders vote in favour of the Transaction at Radio
Fuel's upcoming annual general and special meeting scheduled to be
held on January 30, 2025. Fort
Capital Partners has provided an opinion to the board of directors
and special committee of Radio Fuels that the consideration to be
paid under the Transaction is fair, from a financial point of view,
to Radio Fuels shareholders.
Under the terms of the Arrangement Agreement, the Transaction
will be carried out by way of a court approved plan of arrangement
under the Canada Business Corporations Act and will require
the approval of at least two thirds of the votes cast by the
shareholders of Radio Fuels. In addition to the approval of the
Radio Fuels shareholders, completion of the Transaction is subject
to receipt of TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") approval,
court approvals and other customary closing conditions. The
Arrangement Agreement includes customary provisions including
non-solicitation restrictions on Radio Fuels, a right in favour of
Palisades to match superior proposals and a termination fee payable
by Radio Fuels to Palisades if the Arrangement Agreement is
terminated in certain circumstances.
Radio Fuels' directors and officers and certain significant
shareholders, representing approximately 32.25% of the outstanding
Radio Fuels Shares have entered into voting and support agreements
agreeing with Palisades to support the Transaction and vote their
Radio Fuels Shares in favour of the Transaction.
Following completion of the Transaction, Palisades will remain
headquartered in Vancouver, British
Columbia. The Palisades' board of directors is expected to
consist of Palisades current board of directors. Management of
Palisades will continue to be led by Palisades' current senior
management team.
Full details of the Transaction will be included in the
Arrangement Agreement to be filed by Radio Fuels on SEDAR+ and in
the materials to be delivered to the shareholders of Radio Fuels
for the shareholder meeting of Radio Fuels required in connection
with the Transaction. The Radio Fuels board of directors
unanimously recommends that Radio Fuels shareholders vote in favour
of the Transaction.
The Transaction is expected to close in February 2025.
Palisades and Radio Fuels are considered to be non-arm's length
parties as defined by the TSXV policies because they have the same
insider. Collin Kettell, Chairman
& CEO of Palisades, is also an insider of Radio Fuels on
account of owning approximately 37,155,885 Radio Fuels Shares,
representing approximately 14.87% of the outstanding Radio Fuels
Shares as of the date hereof.
Advisors:
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP is acting as Canadian legal
counsel to Palisades and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &
Garrison LLP is acting as US legal counsel to Palisades. Fort
Capital Partners is acting as financial advisors to the Radio Fuels
special committee and board of directors. Stikeman Elliott
LLP is acting as Canadian legal counsel to Radio Fuels and Dorsey
& Whitney LLP is acting as US legal counsel to Radio Fuels.
About Palisades Goldcorp Ltd.
Palisades Goldcorp Ltd. is a resource investment company focused
on junior companies in the resource and mining sector. Palisades
seeks to acquire equity participation in pre-initial public
offering and early-stage public resource companies with undeveloped
or undervalued high quality projects. Palisades focuses on
companies that are in need of financial resources to realize their
full potential, are undervalued in capital markets, and/or operate
in jurisdictions with low to moderate local political risk.
Palisades expects to continue to make investments, pursuant to its
dual investment strategy, to achieve broad sector exposure with
upside in the event of appreciation in mineral commodities prices,
while also providing the potential to realize appreciation in net
asset values as a result of discoveries by issuers in which
Palisades holds larger positions. Palisades is listed on the TSX
Venture Exchange under the stock symbol "PALI". Palisades holds a
diverse portfolio of securities and derivatives, among which it
holds a 21.82% interest in New Found Gold Corp. (TSX-V: NFG).
About Radio Fuels Energy Corp.
Radio Fuels is a junior natural resource company focused on
providing exposure to uranium and other commodities through the
investment, acquisition, exploration, and development of projects
and companies.
NI 43-101 Mineral
Resource Estimate – Eco Ridge Project
|
Classification
|
Tonnes
(000 t)
|
U3O8 (%)
|
U3O8
(000 lbs)
|
Total REO
(ppm)
|
Total REO
(000 lbs)
|
U3O8
Equivalent
(%)
|
U3O8
Equivalent
(000 lbs)
|
Indicated
|
22,306
|
0.045
|
22,290
|
1,613
|
79,314
|
0.081
|
39,920
|
Inferred
|
36,955
|
0.046
|
37,728
|
1,560
|
127,101
|
0.082
|
67,208
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
107,128
|
Table 1, Mineral
Resource estimate from the technical report entitled "Technical
Report on the Eco Ridge Project, Elliot Lake Area, Ontario, Canada
– Report for NI 43-101" dated September 14, 2021. The
qualified person responsible for preparation of the technical
report was Tudorel Ciuculescu, M.Sc., P.Geo., who was independent
of Radio Fuels at such time. Notes: (1) Mineral Resources were
estimated within the Main Conglomerate Bed at a cut-off value of
C$72/t. Values calculated in the technical report are based on
prices and recoveries of uranium and rare earths, net of off-site
rare earth separation costs. (2) Mineral Resources were estimated
using an average long-term uranium price of US$55/lb U3O8, a rare
earth "basket price" of US$35/kg (net of separation charges), and a
C$:US$ exchange rate of 1.25:1.00. (3) U3O8 Equivalents were
calculated by converting rare earths values (net of prices,
recoveries, and separation charges) to uranium values:
(Ce*0.000001615) + (La*0.000001512) + (Nd*0.000083203) +
(Pr*0.000086281) + (Sm*0.000001445) + (Eu*0.000026748) +
(Gd*0.000034083) + (Sc*0.000873045) + (Y*0.00000438) +
(Yb*0.000015265) + (Dy*0.000307606) + (Er*0.000025566) + (Ho*0) +
(Lu*0) + (Tb*0.0009556) + (Tm*0) [units of ppm * Canadian dollar].
(4) A minimum mining thickness of 1.8 m was used. (5) TREO include
light oxides La2O3, CeO2, Pr6O11, and Nd2O3, and heavy oxides
Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb4O7, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3,
Y2O3, and Lu2O3. Sc2O3 is also included, as it occurs in low
concentrations and carries high unit values like a HREO. Since the
previous NI 43-101 resource estimate, no additional drilling has
been conducted at Eco Ridge and there have been no material changes
to geological information which could influence the resource
estimate.
|
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulatory Services Provider (as that
term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) nor the Canadian
Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is
defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) has
reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward Looking
Information
This news release contains certain "forward-looking
information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively
"forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable
securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are frequently,
but not always, identified by words such as "expects",
"anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential",
"possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events,
conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or" should" occur or
be achieved. All statements, other than statements of historical
fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the
proposed terms and timing of the Transaction, the
proposed benefits of the Transaction, the holding of a
meeting of Radio Fuels shareholders, the satisfaction of conditions
precedent of the Transaction, the timing, receipt and anticipated
effects of court and regulatory approvals for the Transaction,
Palisades' future outlook and the completion of the Transaction.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate, and actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and
projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon
a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered
reasonable by Palisades and Radio Fuels, are inherently subject to
significant business, economic, competitive, political and social
uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and
unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to
be materially different from the results, performance or
achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions
and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such
factors include, without limitation, the Palisades or Radio Fuels'
failure to complete the Transaction, the failure of Radio Fuels
shareholders to approve the Transaction, and the failure of the
TSXV to approve the Transaction. Readers should not place undue
reliance on the forward-looking statements and information
contained in this news release concerning these items. Palisades
and Radio Fuels do not assume any obligation to update these
forward-looking statements should they change, except as required
by applicable securities laws.
SOURCE Palisades Goldcorp Ltd.