You are missing the point entirely there is no premium in the KWG-SPQ merger because KWG is spinning off assets. The idea is to combine companies with nearly identical assets so that Cliff's has to buy them both to get control of the deposit and not just the one with the most nervous shareholders. Since this is an all stock deal you are getting no premium now but are in a much better position to extract a premium from a major.

In my view this was a brilliant tactical move by both companies to counter the threat of Cliffs only buying one to get control of the deposit.