Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO)(LON:RIO), the world's third-biggest mining company, Wednesday agreed to pay $578 million to acquire uranium explorer Hathor Exploration (TSE:HAT), trumping a $520 million hostile bid by Cameco (TSE:CCO).

"The offer does not reflect the strong economic parameters for Roughrider, it does not take into account the mineralization and mineral resource potential at the Far East Zone, it does not capture the scarcity value of quality projects like Roughrider in comparison to other available undeveloped uranium deposits around the world," Hathor said in a statement on Tuesday.

Junior uranium company Hathor Exploration (TSE:HAT) Wednesday rejected a $520 million hostile bid from Cameco (NYSE:CCJ)(TSE:CCO), calling the offer predatory and too low.

Hathor Exploration (TSE:HAT) said a preliminary economic assessment of its flagship Roughrider uranium deposit in Saskatchewan showed it would potentially be one of the lowest cost uranium producers in the world.

Hathor’s resource base at Roughrider has tremendous potential to grow via delineation of Roughrider East. Indeed any  takeover premium will be influenced by the extraordinary richness of the grades...

BRP plans to sell 12.2 million shares for C$21.50 each, the Valcourt, Quebec-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. Based on that price, the company’s market capitalization will be about C$2.5-billion. The IPO is Canada's largest since Hudson's Bay Co. (TSE:HBC), the country's oldest company, raised $365 million in November. 

Canadian shares stretched this year's gains on Wednesday, fueled by gains across most major sectors on optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep its easy money policy in place for now. The benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index (TSE:OSPTX) rose 1.2 percent to 12,889.26 at 12:24 p.m. in Toronto on Wednesday. The gauge has extended year-to-date gains to 3.6 percent. Almost four shares advanced for every stock that declined.

Treasury Metals (TSE:TML) has unveiled additional drill results from its Goliath gold project in northwestern Ontario, with results showing near-surface intersections as high as 4.18 grams per tonne (g/t) gold. 

Largo Resources (CVE:LGO) is on path to becoming the lowest cost producer of vanadium in the world from a primary source, according to CEO Mark Brennan, with the company's Maracás project in Brazil on pace for commissioning in the fourth quarter.