Sierra Caraz acquires Arcata Mine and Azuca Mining Project

Cuatrecasas has advised Sierra Caraz S.A.C. on acquiring 100% of the shares issued by Compañía Minera Cerro Salto S.A.C., owner of the Arcata Mine, and also the Azuca Mining Project, owned by Compañía Minera Ares S.A.C, a subsidiary of Hochschild Mining PLC.

The firm also assisted Sierra Caraz with closing the gold and silver sale agreement with which Triple Flag International Ltd. granted Sierra Caraz $35 million for the future sale of gold and silver.

In parallel to this, Cuatrecasas advised Sierra Caraz on entering into an agreement with Ocean Partners UK Ltd., through its subsidiary, Trading Partners Perú S.A.C. This enabled Ocean Partners to grant Sierra Caraz financing that will be used to replace the letter of guarantee for the Arcata Mine closure plan, and acquire the right to purchase a percentage of the future gold and silver production from the Arcata Mine and Azuca Mining Project.

These transactions were highly complex, with the following negotiations taking place simultaneously over more than a year: acquiring the Compañía Minera Cerro Salto shares, entering into the gold and silver sale agreement with Triple Flag, and negotiating the mineral sale agreement and financing with Ocean Partners.

Cuatrecasas partner Ina Drago from the Lima office remarked, "This has been one of the most challenging transactions in which I have had the opportunity of participating in my career, mainly due to the complexity of the simultaneous negotiation and aligning the interests of all the parties involved.”

The transactions were led by Ina Drago, together with Juan Pablo Porto, Milagros Cacho, Stephanie Torres and Santiago Ramírez.