VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 7, 2025
/CNW/ - Luca Mining Corp. ("Luca" or the
"Company") (TSXV: LUCA) (OTCQX: LUCMF) (Frankfurt: Z68) is
pleased to announce that it, along with an arm's-length third-party
corporation, Jaluca Limited ("Jaluca"), have reached an
agreement with Urion Holdings (Malta) Limited ("Urion", a wholly owned
subsidiary of Trafigura Mexico S.A. de C.V.) to repurchase 100% of
Luca's US$5.8 million convertible
debenture (the "Debenture") held by Urion. Luca and Jaluca
are purchasing 43% and 57% of the Debenture, respectively, for a
total purchase price of US$7.2
million or at an as if converted basis of CAD$0.4338 per share, a discount of over 25% to
Luca's closing share price on the TSX-V on January 3, 2025 of $0.58. Luca will immediately cancel its portion
of the Debenture, reducing fully diluted shares outstanding by
10,285,714 shares or 4.4%. As part of the transaction, Jaluca has
agreed to convert its purchased share of the Debenture at the
Debenture's exercise price of $0.35.
The result of the purchase and cancellation of US$2.5 million of the Debenture by Luca and the
purchase and conversion of US$3.3
million of the Debenture by Jaluca is the removal of
US$5.8 million in debt from Luca's
balance sheet. After completion of the transaction, Luca will have
221,365,671 shares outstanding.
In addition, the Company has continued to make principal
repayments on its term loan with Trafigura Mexico S.A. de C.V.
Total debt outstanding has been reduced to approximately
US$11.1 million since October 2024, representing a nearly 39%
reduction.
The purchase of the Debenture was facilitated by the exercise of
8.7 million Luca warrants in December
2024 for proceeds of C$4.4
million. The Company's cash balance is roughly US$6.75 million, net after the purchase of the
Debenture and term debt repayment.
As a result of the foregoing, Luca will have 221,365,671 million
shares outstanding, 47,789,457 warrants outstanding, US$11.1 million debt and approximately
US$6.75 million cash. The Company
will continue to use proceeds from the ongoing warrant exercises to
pay down its debt with an objective to be debt free before the end
of 2025.
Dan Barnholden, CEO, commented,
"As we have committed to shareholders, we are dedicated to repaying
our debt and reducing our shares outstanding as quickly as
possible. We are thrilled to be in a position to opportunistically
reduce our issued and outstanding shares, at a significant discount
to our current trading price, while simultaneously strengthening
our balance sheet. This sets us apart from our peers and speaks to
our commitment to creating shareholder value. We have a
well-defined growth strategy and boxes are being checked. We are
well on our way to being debt free and are beginning to generate
free cash flow from both of our mines. We have recently announced
exploration underway at Tahuehueto focused on resource expansion
and mine life extension, and we will soon commence exploration at
Campo Morado. The optimization
program at Campo Morado is
yielding excellent results and commissioning of Tahuehueto is
nearing completion. This year is shaping up to be a transformative
year for Luca Mining."
About Luca Mining Corp.
Luca Mining (TSX-V: LUCA, OTCQX: LUCMF, Frankfurt: Z68) is a
diversified Canadian mining company with two 100%-owned producing
mines within the prolific Sierra
Madre mineralized belt in Mexico which hosts numerous producing and
historic mines along its trend. The Company produces gold, copper,
zinc, silver and lead from these mines that each have considerable
development and resource upside.
The Campo Morado mine, is an
underground operation located in Guerrero
State. It produces copper-zinc-lead concentrates with
precious metals credits. It is currently undergoing an optimization
program which is already generating significant improvements in
recoveries and grades, efficiencies, and cashflows.
The Tahuehueto Gold, Silver Mine is a new underground operation
in Durango State. which hosts numerous producing and historic mines
along its trend. The Company is commissioning its mill and is
expected to achieve commercial production by Q1 2025.
Qualified Person
The technical information contained in this News Release has
been reviewed and approved by Mr. Paul
Gray, Vice-President Technical at Luca Mining as the
Qualified Person for the Company as defined in National Instrument
43-101.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
(signed) "Dan
Barnholden"
Dan Barnholden, Chief Executive
Officer
For more information, please visit: www.lucamining.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
It should be noted that Luca declared commercial production at
Campo Morado prior to completing a
feasibility study of mineral reserves demonstrating economic and
technical viability. Accordingly, readers should be cautioned that
Luca's production decision has been made without a comprehensive
feasibility study of established reserves such that there is
greater risk and uncertainty as to future economic results from the
Campo Morado mine and a higher
technical risk of failure than would be the case if a feasibility
study were completed and relied upon to make a production decision.
Luca has completed a preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") mining
study on the Campo Morado mine
that provides a conceptual life of mine plan and a preliminary
economic analysis based on the previously identified mineral
resources (see news releases dated November
8, 2017, and April 4,
2018).
Statements contained in this news release that are not
historical facts are "forward-looking information" or
"forward-looking statements" (collectively, "Forward-Looking
Information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities
laws. Forward Looking Information includes, but is not limited to,
anticipated discovery of higher-grade mineralization and ability to
add to existing mine plans; other possible events, conditions or
financial performance that are based on assumptions about future
economic conditions and courses of action; the timing and costs of
future activities on the Company's properties. In certain cases,
Forward-Looking Information can be identified using words and
phrases such as "plans," "expects," "scheduled," "estimates,"
"forecasts," "intends," "anticipates" or variations of such words
and phrases. In preparing the Forward-Looking Information in this
news release, the Company has applied several material assumptions,
including, but not limited to, that the current exploration,
development, environmental and other objectives concerning the
Tahuehueto Project and Campo
Morado properties that can be achieved; the geological
mapping from mining activity at Tahuehueto Project and Campo Morado will continue to provide
information to guide exploration program plans; the continuity of
the price of gold and other metals, economic and political
conditions, and operations. Forward-Looking Information involves
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may
cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the
Company to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
Forward-Looking Information. There can be no assurance that
Forward-Looking Information will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not
place undue reliance on Forward-Looking Information. Except as
required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to
release publicly any revisions to Forward-Looking Information
contained in this news release to reflect events or circumstances
after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated
events.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release.
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SOURCE Luca Mining Corp.