Toronto- and New York-listed Aris Mining is set to increase its shareholding in the Soto Norte project, in Colombia, to a controlling interest of 51%.

The company will acquire an addition 31% joint venture (JV) interest in the copper/gold project in a share transaction. Aris will issue 15.75-million shares to Abu Dhabi-based investment group Mubadala, representing about 9.9% ownership, with a further six-million shares to be issued on receipt of an environmental licence.

Aris also unveiled a new, smaller-scale development plan for Soto Norte, which is said to be one of the biggest undeveloped underground gold projects in South America.

Some of the key changes planned for the project are building a smaller processing plant with a longer operating life, adopting a flexible mining method to target higher-grade material earlier in the mine life, and installing a paste backfill plant to minimise surface tailings storage requirements.

“As the only mining company with operational experience to own and operate Soto Norte, we believe a new, smaller-scale development plan with a reduced environmental footprint is the right path forward,” said CEO Neil Woodyer.

Aris also plans to incorporate processing solutions for contract mining partners into the design and development of Soto Norte, following the successful partnership model developed at the Segovia Operations, also in Colombia.

Based on the attractive results of preliminary work, Aris has initiated a prefeasibility study for the new development plan, which is expected to be complete by early 2025.

“In support of this plan, we are delighted to become the 51% controlling shareholder of the Soto Norte JV at closing, enabling Aris Mining to develop this very attractive project,” added Woodyer.