Shareholders Ok Sunshine Stock Plan

Shareholders of Sunshine Mining and Refining Co. approved a plan Friday to convert $12 million of preferred stock to common shares.

In a special shareholders meeting, 36.2 percent of the outstanding common shares and 61.5 percent of the preferred shares voted for the plan. Three percent of the common shares and 5.4 percent of the preferred shares voted against the plan.

The preferred shares have dividends that the company has not paid for much of the decade. In order to avoid potential lawsuits from the preferred shareholders, the plan gives those shareholders the equivalent of their ownership in Sunshine common stock.

Much of the company’s common shares are owned by foreigners, so the company will wait until those shareholders can vote. When more than half the shares have voted, the plan will become effective, the company said.

Sunshine owns and operates the Sunshine Mine at Big Creek, Idaho, in the Silver Valley. , DataTimes