TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Canadian base metals miner Hudbay Minerals, which has applied to the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) to block takeover target Augusta Resources shareholder rights plan, has extended its C$450-million bid for the company to May 16.

The offer was due to expire on Monday.

The extension follows a ruling by the BCSC that it would cease trade Augusta’s shareholder rights plan, or ‘poison pill’, on July 15, but only if Hudbay extended its offer to July 16 and if it extend the offer for another ten days if any shares were taken up.

Augusta shareholders on Friday voted in favour of keeping the rights plan in place in a bid to thwart Hudbay’s takeover ambitions. Augusta’s poison pill was put in place in April last year, at a time when Hudbay was aggressively buying Augusta shares.

The BCSC ruling gives Augusta more time to look for alternative bidders. The company, which owns the significant Rosemont copper project, near Tucson, Arizona, recently revealed that it had signed confidentiality agreements with ten potential suitors under its strategic review process.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN

Meanwhile, Hudbay said that it was assessing the impact of two federal agencies’ recent statements regarding the permitting schedule of the Rosemont project, which in its view, could add to further delays.

The US Forest Service (USFS) on Thursday warned that it had received “complex objections” from stakeholders during its public consultations regarding the final environmental impact statement for the project, and that it would need more time to review, consider and respond to the concerns raised.

In another potential permitting roadblock, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) also recently stated that there was a shortfall between the mitigation plan Augusta had proposed in April and the mitigation needed to fully offset impacts to waters associated with the project.

The USFS added that it would provide an update on the schedule for the record of decision (ROD) by the end of May, which Hudbay said appeared to be subject to further delay, while the USACE had indicated that the timing of its permit decision for the Clean Water Act 404 Permit might be affected by the schedule for the ROD.

Canada-based Hudbay in February said it would offer Augusta shareholders 0.315 of a Hudbay share for each Augusta share held, representing about C$2.96 per Augusta share, or a 62% premium to Augusta’s 20-day volume-weighted average share price on the TSX on February 7, or an 18% increase over the stock’s closing price on that date.

Augusta’s TSX-listed share price has since the start of the year more than doubled in value, boosted in large part by Hudbay’s hostile offer. Early on Monday, the stock gained 2% to change hands at C$3.05 apiece.