My guess is that they tried to sell their 25% interest to Teck but could not meet EE's asking price (he owns 50+% of CUU and obviously wants to maximize his returrn on its sale to a third party - which is good news for all shareholders) because:
A. There was too big a gap between CUU's market price and what the Board deemed as fair value for their shares; and
B. Teck's share price had hit a low meaning that any form of share deal was not acceptable to Teck.
So the JV was thee best deal that could be done at that time.
CUU has frequently stated that it is an exploration company that finds resources for others to mine. It is unlikely that this view has changed - especially with $20 million of cash to spend on Arizona development.
The new Schaft Creek drilling program is likely focused on delivering the results needed for Teck to justify EE's asking price to its own shareholders in particular and the market in general. Positiive results will also increase CUU's share price and make some form of share for share deal likely.
From a tax perspective, selling CUU's shares is significantly better than selling the interest in the Schaft Creek asset ie.
1. if the shares are sold, shareholders would pay tax at capital gains rates on the difference between their cost base and proceeds of sale; but
2. on a sale of assets, CUU would pay tax on the gain at regular tax rates and then shareholders would pay tax on the proceeds they receive.
So, a sale of CUU shares is a better deal for all of us. Part of this process would require CUU to transfer, by way of dividend etc, its shares in the Arizona company to its shareholders at a low cost base. CUU would then be able to either keep the Arizona shares or sell them.
