Coeur d'Alene Mines Corp. confirmed today that it has submitted a binding proposal to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Orko Silver Corp., of Vancouver, British Columbia.

The transaction is valued at about $384 million Canadian, which is about the same in U.S. dollars at current exchange rates.

Orko's board of directors determined that Coeur's proposal is a "superior proposal" to an agreement Orko has with First Majestic Silver Corp., also of Vancouver. First Majestic now has five business days to match Coeur's proposal. If First Majestic fails to match, Orko will enter into a definitive agreement with Coeur.

Orko is developing a large silver deposit, La Preciosa, located near the city of Durango, Mexico. La Preciosa and neighboring mineral concessions cover 80,000 acres of mining claims.

Coeur currently operates the Palmarejo silver-gold mine in Mexico, the San Bartolome silver mine in Bolivia, the Rochester silver-gold mine in Nevada, and the Kensington gold mine in Alaska. The company also owns nonoperating interest in an Australian mine and conducts ongoing exploration in Nevada, Alaska, Mexico, Bolivia, and Argentina.