Sterling Metals Completes Acquisition of QcX Gold Corp.
Sterling completes its acquisition of QCX through a 0.20789 share-exchange deal, resulting in the delisting of QCX shares.
Sterling Metals Corp. completed its court-approved plan of arrangement to acquire all outstanding QCX Gold Corp. shares on 2026-08-31. The transaction, first announced on 2026-06-02 and approved by QCX shareholders on 2026-08-18, established an exchange ratio of 0.20789 Sterling shares per QCX share, or one Sterling share for every 4.81026 QCX shares.
Sterling issued 4,922,249 Sterling shares to former QCX shareholders. The company also issued 1,649,399 common share purchase warrants and 299,361 options to replace QCX warrants and options on the same economic terms. No finders’ fees were payable in connection with the deal.
Post-transaction ownership structure shows that existing Sterling shareholders own approximately 90.4%, while former QCX shareholders own approximately 9.6%. Albert Contardi, former QCX CEO, was appointed to Sterling’s board.
The combined land package exceeds 35,000 hectares across the Batchewana Copper Belt, expanding Sterling’s district footprint by about 40%. QCX shares are expected to be delisted from the TSX Venture Exchange around 2026-09-01, and QCX will apply to cease being a reporting issuer.
QCX Gold Corp. (QCX) has completed the previously announced, shareholder-approved, and court-approved acquisition of Sterling. The initial announcement of this transaction on June 2, 2026, marked the material event in the deal’s progression. This final release contains no materially new deal terms, no new exploration results, no financing, and no updated financial guidance.
The final share issuance stands at 4,922,249 Sterling shares, which is higher than the initial estimate of approximately 4,701,788 shares. Consequently, final QCX ownership is 9.6%, compared to the initial estimate of about 9.25%. This increase reflects additional QCX shares issued before closing for debt settlement and property consideration.
For QCX shareholders, the completion removes remaining deal-closing uncertainty and converts their QCX exposure into a smaller ownership position in Sterling. The delisting was fully expected and is not considered negative news in context.
QCX Gold Corp. is a pre-revenue mineral exploration company formerly listed on the TSXV under the ticker QCX. The company’s portfolio includes the Golden Giant Project in the James Bay region of Quebec, located 2.9 km from Azimut Exploration’s Patwon discovery; the Fernet Project in the Abitibi Greenstone Belt of Quebec, which is contiguous with Wallbridge Mining’s Fenelon/Martinière property; and the Batchawana/Olsen Project in Northern Ontario. The Batchawana/Olsen Project is directly adjacent to Sterling Metals’ Soo Copper Project and comprises a 323-claim acquisition, the Olsen Project, and an additional 21-claim block.
QcX’s Ontario land package was strategically assembled along the Batchewana Copper Belt and shares more than 6.6 km of boundary with Sterling’s Soo Copper Project. Under the completed arrangement, QcX’s assets are folded into Sterling. Sterling’s flagship Soo Copper Project now consolidates more than 35,000 hectares across the Batchewana Copper Belt. QcX itself has no production and no stated mineral reserves or resources in the provided materials.