Fura Completes Acquisition of Colombian Emerald Mine, Coscuez

Fura Gems Inc. (TSXV: FURA) is pleased to announce that it has completed its acquisition of 76 per cent of the issued and outstanding shares of Esmeracol S.A. (“Esmeracol”), which owns a 100 per cent interest in mining licence no. 122 – 95M (the “Coscuez Licence”).

Dev Shetty, President & CEO of Fura, commented: “Fura has achieved one more important milestone by adding the iconic Colombian emerald mine, Coscuez, to its portfolio. With this acquisition, Fura now has two important silos in its portfolio, Colombian emeralds and Mozambican rubies. Fura will now work towards modernisation of the Coscuez emerald mine and deployment of the best health and safety standards for its employees while keeping the environmental impact minimal. Fura will also closely work with the local community and relevant authorities to promote the social-economic development in the region. We would like to thank our local partner and also the entire team on the ground in the Colombia for the dedication and hard work.”

The Coscuez Emerald Property

The Coscuez Licence covers an area of 46 hectares and includes exclusive rights for the exploration, construction and mining of emerald deposits granted by the Government of the Republic of Colombia within the area historically known as the “Coscuez Mine” in the municipality of San Pablo de Borbur, Department of Boyacá.  The population of San Pablo de Borbur municipality is 9,189 people, with 28.69% of the population resident in the village (vereda) of Coscuez. The municipality is predominantly rural with a local economy currently based on the twin activities of mining and farming.  Fura will continue mining activities on the Coscuez License with the view to improve and optimize mining operations.

Transaction Terms

As part of the consideration, Fura has paid Emporium HS S.A.S. (“Emporium”) US$2.50 million on closing and issued 363,872 common shares. Fura now owns a 76 per cent interest in Esmeracol and has assumed the complete management control of the Coscuez mine. Emporium will continue to hold a 20.10 per cent free carried interest in Esmeracol, subject to a shareholders’ agreement containing restrictions on transfer of shares, a right of first refusal, drag along rights and other terms standard for an agreement of this nature. The balance of 3.9 per cent will continue to be held by third parties.

Under the terms of the share purchase agreement relating to the transaction, Fura has agreed to the following additional payments:

• US$2.00 million on the 12-month anniversary of the closing;
• S$2.50 million on the 24-month anniversary of the closing; and,
• US$3.00 million on the 36-month anniversary of the closing.

In addition, Fura will assume certain expenses of Esmeracol not exceeding US$5 million. If Esmeracol earns a net profit of US$17 million or more in a fiscal year, then Fura will pay to Emporium an additional one-off bonus of US$3 million.

The common shares issued to Emporium are subject to a four month statutory hold period. The transaction was an arm’s length transaction for the purposes of the TSXV policies and Fura has not paid any finder’s fee relating thereto.

Technical information in respect of the Coscuez property is available in the technical report entitled “Technical report on the 122-95M emerald license in the Boyacá district, Colombia”, dated with an effective date of November 15, 2017 filed under Fura’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.