Aris Mining has agreed to acquire the remaining 49% interest in the Soto Norte gold project from Mubadala for a total consideration of $80mn, comprised of $60mn in cash and 1,739,130 newly issued Aris shares at a deemed price of $11.50 a share, the company reported.
The Vancouver-based miner said the deal would lift its total reserves to about 9.1 Moz from 6.9 Moz and increase measured and indicated resources to 21.7 Moz, positioning Aris on a path to become a roughly 1mn-ounce-per-year producer by combining Soto Norte with its Segovia and Marmato operations.
Aris’s prefeasibility study, published in September 2025, underpins the asset: Soto Norte is modelled as a high-grade underground mine with a 3,500 tpd mill, total reserves of 4.6 Moz, an initial mine life of 22 years, an after-tax NPV(5%) of $2.7bn, an IRR of 35.4% and an initial capital cost of $625mn, using a base case gold price of $2,600/oz.
The transaction is expected to close by early December 2025, subject to customary conditions; Aris said it would also terminate an existing precious-metals stream to Mubadala as part of the agreement. Aris’s NYSE-listed shares traded near $11.75 in intraday trade following the announcement, implying a market capitalisation of roughly $2.4bn.
Separately, Aris said it reached a settlement with the Government of Colombia that will end legacy ICSID arbitration linked to earlier disputes and establish ten-year “pillar agreements” covering the Marmato area, with no cash payment required under the deal.
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