Mercator Minerals Ltd. (ML.TO) went down by more than 8% to $3.38 after announcing that it has agreed to acquire Creston Moly Corp. (CMS.V) in a friendly deal that values Creston at about $195 million, which will will create a “significant” copper and molybdenum miner with operations in the United States and Mexico.

Mercator president and CEO Michael Surratt said “We see this as a significant first step towards creating a strong intermediate base metals company with an attractive growth profile.”

Crest Moly shares hit a new year high 60 cents earlier after the news.