(Reprinted with permission from Rosemontminetruth.com)
Richard Warke, the former top executive of Augusta Resource Corp. which sold the proposed Rosemont copper project to Hudbay Minerals in 2014, stands to gross US$409 million in connection with the sale of another company with a proposed mining project in southeastern Arizona.
Richard Warke
Australia-based South32 has offered US$1.3 billion cash to purchase Arizona Mining Inc.’s Hermosa mine project six miles south of Patagonia. The Hermosa Project comprises the zinc-lead-silver Taylor deposit and the zinc-manganese-silver Central deposit.
South32 is Australia’s third largest mining company and already held a 17 percent share in Arizona Mining prior to making the June 15 offer. Arizona Mining’s board of directors unanimously recommended shareholders approve the sale. Warke is Arizona Mining’s executive chairman.
South32’s offer of C$6.20 a share was about 50 percent higher than Arizona Mining’s June 15 closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange. South32’s shareholders’ approval is not required and the deal is expected to close in September, according at a joint press release issued by the two companies.
Warke controls 88 million shares of Arizona Mining according to the company’s most recent Management Information Circular filed with Canadian securities regulators. The huge windfall comes 20 years after Warke filed for personal bankruptcy in Vancouver, British Colombia during a period in which he was engulfed in financial problems including a corporate bankruptcy and several cease trade orders issued by Canadian regulators.
Warke failed to disclose the personal and corporate bankruptcies and cease trade orders in subsequent regulatory filings spanning nearly a decade, according to a complaint filed by Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, a Tucson-based conservation group, with the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission .
Warke’s personal bankruptcy filing came 9 years after he signed a settlement agreement with the BCSC on an insider trading violation. As a result of the settlement agreement, Warke remains on the BCSC website under the warning “Disciplined Persons and Investment Caution.” [Read more…]