TORONTO, ONTARIO and VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Aug 26, 2008
(Marketwire via COMTEX News Network) --
HudBay Minerals Inc. ("HudBay")(TSX:HBM) and Skye Resources Inc.
("Skye")(TSX:SKR) are pleased to announce that the business combination
between the two companies has been completed.
"We are very
excited at the prospects for the combined company," said Allen Palmiere,
President and CEO of HudBay. "The completion of this transaction
advances one of the key elements of our strategy -building scale and
scope through opportunistic investments to complement HudBay's existing
operations."
"HudBay's attractive mix of producing, development
and exploration assets provide a solid platform for future growth,"
added Mr. Palmiere. "Our balance sheet strength and cash flows place us
in an excellent position to bring the Fenix Project into production as
well as continue our aggressive exploration and development activities
in the prolific Flin Flon Greenstone Belt. At the same time, we
will continue to seek additional opportunities in support of further
growth and value creation for shareholders."
Effective August 26,
2008, 31,295,685 HudBay shares were issued under a Plan of Arrangement
pursuant to the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia). Skye
common shares have been automatically exchanged on the basis of 0.61
HudBay common shares and C$0.001 in cash for each Skye common share
held.
New Director
HudBay is also announcing that Colin K.
Benner, formerly Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Skye, is
appointed director of HudBay. "Colin K. Benner brings significant mining
industry experience together with extensive public company experience,"
said Norman Anderson, Chairman of HudBay. "We are pleased to have him
join the board, and I welcome him to the HudBay team on behalf of the
board of directors and senior management."
Colin K. Benner is a professional engineer with over 40 years'
experience in mining engineering and management in Canada and
internationally. Colin is also Chairman of the Board of PBS Coals, a
private coal mining company in Pennsylvania, and he serves as a director
on a number of other boards of mining companies.
New Chief Financial Officer
Effective
today, David S. Bryson will join HudBay as Vice President and Chief
Financial Officer. David is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder,
and joins HudBay from Skye, where he held the position of Chief
Financial Officer. He has an extensive background in corporate treasury
and development, having had a lengthy career at Terasen Inc. from 1989
to 2006, most recently as its Treasurer. Terasen is a former publicly
traded energy infrastructure company, purchased by Kinder Morgan Inc. in
late 2005.
"We are very pleased to
have David join the HudBay management team," said Allen Palmiere. "He
brings with him a wealth of experience and we look forward to benefiting
from his expertise." The appointment of Mr. Bryson comes as Jeff
Swinoga has resigned to pursue other opportunities. "We would like to
take this opportunity to thank Mr. Swinoga for his contributions to
HudBay over the last few years and we wish him all the best in his
future endeavours," added Palmiere.
About HudBay Minerals Inc.
HudBay
Minerals Inc. is a leading integrated base metals mining company with
assets in North and Central America and a focus on the discovery and
production of nickel, zinc and copper metal. The company is investing
for the future in one of the most ambitious exploration programs in
Canada, targeting its 400,000 hectare exploration territory in the Flin
Flon Greenstone Belt, and commencing development of
the world class Fenix Nickel Project (the "Fenix Project") in Guatemala.
As an integrated mining company, HudBay operates mines, concentrators
and metal production facilities in northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan, a
zinc oxide production facility in Ontario, and the White Pine copper
refinery in Michigan. HudBay is a member of the S&P/TSX Composite
Index and the S&P/TSX Global Mining Index.
(HBM-G)
Cautionary
Notice: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within
the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and United
States securities laws. Forward-looking information includes, but is not
limited to, information concerning the business combination between
HudBay and Skye, HudBay's exploration program and its strategies and
future prospects. Generally, forward-looking information can be
identified by the use of forward-looking
terminology such as "plans", "expects", or "does not expect", "is
expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends",
"anticipates", or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations of
such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or
results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur",
or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on the opinions
and estimates of management at the date the information is made, and is
based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and
uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or
results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
information. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events
that are not within the control of HudBay or Skye and there is no
assurance they will prove to be correct.
Factors that
could cause actual results to vary materially from results anticipated
by such forward-looking information include changes in market
conditions, variations in ore grade or recovery rates, risks relating to
international operations, fluctuating metal prices and currency
exchange rates, economic factors, government regulation and approvals,
environmental and reclamation risks, costs, timing and amount of future
production, capital expenditures and requirements for additional
capital, changes in project parameters, the possibility of project cost
overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, labour disputes and the
availability of skilled labour, results of exploration and other risks
of the mining industry, failure of plant, equipment or processes to
operate as anticipated, the business of the companies not being
integrated successfully or such integration proving more difficult, time
consuming or costly than expected as well as those risk factors
discussed in the Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31,
2007 for each of HudBay and Skye available at www.sedar.com.
Although HudBay and Skye have attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially
from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other
factors that cause actions, events or results not to be anticipated,
estimated or intended. 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
information. HudBay and Skye undertake no obligation to update
forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates
or opinions should change except
as required by applicable securities laws. The
reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking
information.
SOURCE: HudBay Minerals Inc.
HudBay Minerals Inc.
H. Maura Lendon
Vice President and General Counsel
(416) 362-2335
Email: maura.lendon@hudbayminerals.com
Website: www.hudbayminerals.com
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