Noront's board is recommending shareholders accept BHP's offer. Noront chief executive Alan Coutts says the all-cash offer provides "immediate and certain" value for shareholders.
Coutts says BHP also has the financial strength and global mining expertise to advance Noront's highly prospective Eagle's Nest project. Eagle's Nest is a proposed nickel, copper and platinum mine in the Ring of Fire region of northern Ontario.
BHP says Eagle's Nest provides a platform to develop further opportunities in the Ring of Fire region. BHP says it plans to develop partnerships with First Nations, governments and local communities in the region.
The Ring of Fire region in northern Ontario holds some of the world's richest deposits of chromite, nickel, copper and platinum. The region's resource deposits are valued at anywhere from $30-billion to $60-billion.