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Thu Feb 20, 2003
PAN AMERICAN AND CORNER BAY COMPLETE MERGER
Vancouver, British Columbia ... Pan American Silver Corp. (Nasdaq: PAAS; TSX: PAA) and Corner Bay Silver Inc. (TSX: BAY) are pleased to announce that they have today completed their merger, which was approved by shareholders of both companies in early September 2002.
The transaction combines Pan American's silver production and operational experience with Corner Bay's Alamo Dorado silver-gold deposit. The Alamo Dorado deposit was a grass roots exploration discovery made by Corner Bay in 1997 in Sonora State, Mexico. Corner Bay holds a 100% interest, with no royalties, in this project.
Mineral reserves on the Alamo Dorado deposit (calculated at per ounce prices of US$4.60 silver and US$300 gold) include proven reserves of 23.36 million tonnes of ore grading 71 grams of silver per tonne and 0.27 grams of gold per tonne and probable reserves of 12.14 million tonnes of ore grading 60 grams of silver per tonne and 0.24 grams of gold per tonne (Qualified person -- Mintec, Inc., July 2002), containing approximately 77 million ounces of silver and 297,000 ounces of gold. The Alamo Dorado Project is located in the western foothills of the Sierra Madres mountain range and occupies a ridge top, making it ideal for low strip ratio, open pit mining.
Under the terms of a plan of arrangement, Pan American has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Corner Bay. Each Corner Bay share has been exchanged for 0.3846 common shares of Pan American plus 0.1923 Pan American warrants, resulting in the issuance of a total of 7,636,659 Pan American common shares and 3,818,330 Pan American warrants. Each whole warrant will allow the holder to purchase a common share of Pan American for a price of C$12 at any time over a five-year period. The TSX has conditionally approved the listing of the Pan American warrants under the symbol PAA.WT. The listing is subject to Pan American fulfilling all of the requirements of the TSX as soon as practicable, including the distribution of the Pan American warrants to a minimum number of warrant holders.
Corner Bay shareholders who have not yet delivered letters of transmittal and their Corner Bay Share certificates to Computershare Trust Company of Canada, which is acting as depositary in connection with the Arrangement, should contact Computershare by telephone at 1-800-564-6253 or by email at caregistryinfo@computershare.com to obtain a letter of transmittal which will contain instruction on how to surrender their Corner Bay share certificates and receive their Pan American shares and warrants.
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Ross J. Beaty, Chairman of Pan American and Director of Corner Bay or
Rosie Moore, VP Corporate Relations, Pan American,
(604) 684-1175
www.panamericansilver.com
CAUTIONARY NOTE
Some of the statements in this news release are forward-looking statements, such as estimates of future production levels, expectations regarding mine production costs, expected trends in mineral prices and statements that describe Pan American's or Corner Bay's future plans, objectives or goals. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements depending on such factors as changes in general economic conditions and financial markets, changes in prices for silver and other metals, technological and operational hazards in Pan American's mining and mine development activities, uncertainties inherent in the calculation of mineral reserves, mineral resources and metal recoveries, the timing and availability of financing, governmental and other approvals, political unrest or instability in countries where Pan American or Corner Bay are active, labour relations and other risk factors listed from time to time in Pan American's Form 40-F and Corner Bay's Form 20-F. |
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