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Wheaton Precious Metals Corp
Symbol WPM
Shares Issued 452,318,526
Close 2023-05-16 C$ 66.91
Market Cap C$ 30,264,632,575
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Wheaton Precious to acquire gold stream from Lumina

2023-05-16 20:15 ET - News Release

Mr. Randy Smallwood reports

WHEATON PRECIOUS METALS ANNOUNCES THE ACQUISITION OF A GOLD STREAM FROM LUMINA GOLD'S CANGREJOS PROJECT

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Wheaton Precious Metals International Ltd., has entered into a definitive precious metal purchase agreement (the gold stream) with Lumina Gold Corp. in respect to its 100-per-cent owned Cangrejos gold-copper project located in El Oro province, Ecuador. Cangrejos is forecast to be a high-margin mine in the lowest half of the cost curve with a 26-year mine life1.

"The Cangrejos project is an excellent addition to Wheaton's existing portfolio of high-quality, low-cost assets as it should provide accretive, long-term growth as well as significant exploration potential," said Randy Smallwood, Wheaton's president and chief executive officer. "We welcome the opportunity to work with the team at Lumina who have done an outstanding job at working to derisk the project and advancing it towards construction. As with any transaction Wheaton enters into, responsible and sustainable mining practices are paramount, and Wheaton looks forward to supporting Lumina both financially as they construct Cangrejos and with their continuing comprehensive community engagement efforts."

Transaction details

(all values are in United States dollars unless otherwise noted)

  • Upfront consideration: Wheaton International will pay Lumina total upfront cash consideration of $300-million, $48-million of which is available preconstruction. The payment schedule for the early deposit and deposit are as follows:
    • The early deposit of $48-million comprises four components: 1) $12-million on closing; 2) $10-million six months after close; 3) $15-million 12 months after close; and 4) an $11-million tranche that can be drawn upon for committed acquisition of surface rights.
    • The remaining $252-million will be payable in staged equal instalments during construction, subject to various customary conditions being satisfied.
  • Streamed metal: Under the gold stream, Wheaton International will purchase 6.6 per cent of the payable gold from the project until 700,000 ounces (oz) of gold has been delivered, at which point the stream will be reduced to 4.4 per cent of the payable gold production for the life of the mine.
  • Production profile: Attributable production is forecast to average over 24,000 oz of gold per year for the first 10 years of production and over 24,500 oz of gold per year for the life of mine.
  • Production payments: Wheaton International will make continuing payments for the gold ounces delivered equal to 18 per cent of the spot price of gold (production payment) until the uncredited deposit is reduced to nil and 22.0 per cent of the spot price of gold thereafter.
  • Incremental reserves and resources: The addition of Cangrejos will increase Wheaton's total estimated proven and probable gold reserves by 0.76 million ounces (Moz), measured and indicated gold resources by 0.25 Moz, and inferred gold resources by 0.16 Moz. In addition, Wheaton believes there is strong exploration potential within the Cangrejos property.
  • Other considerations:
    • The gold stream will include a customary completion test.
    • As part of the transaction, Wheaton has obtained a right of first refusal on any future gold and silver streams.
    • In the event of a change of control, Lumina may purchase one-third of the gold stream from Wheaton until the earlier of Jan. 1, 2030, and the date that is 12 months after first production.
    • Lumina and certain of its subsidiaries will provide Wheaton International with corporate guarantees and certain other security over their assets.

Financing the transactions

As at March 31, 2023, the company had approximately $800-million of cash on hand, which the company believes when combined with the liquidity provided by the available credit under the $2-billion revolving term loan and continuing operating cash flows, positions the company well to finance the acquisition of the gold stream as well as all outstanding commitments and known contingencies and provides flexibility to acquire additional accretive mineral stream interests.

Sustainability considerations for the Cangrejos project

Based on work done by Lumina, several of the project's innate characteristics and design elements have been identified that serve to potentially minimize its environmental impacts:

  • Since 2014, Lumina has been engaging with communities and is committed to involve affected communities and stakeholders through continuing participation and consultation. The project will seek opportunities to create enduring economic benefits for societal groups and communities that are directly affected by operations.
  • The majority of electrical power is anticipated to come from renewable hydroelectric sources.
  • Proximity to port is expected to minimize transportation-based greenhouse gas emission impacts.
  • The dry stack tailings filtration plant is projected to recycle a substantial portion of tailings water for reuse in the processing plant.
  • No acid rock drainage conditions are expected to be present in either the waste rock storage facility or the dry stack tailings facility.
  • Aerial ore conveyor is predicted to minimize land clearance.
  • The project is proposed to include progressive reclamation and revegetation of tailings and waste rock facilities.
  • Reforestation of previously impacted concession lands outside of mining facilities is anticipated to serve as offsets of disturbed areas.

About Lumina Gold Corp. and the Cangrejos project

Lumina Gold is a Vancouver, Canada-based, precious and base metals exploration and development company focused on the Cangrejos gold-copper project located in El Oro province, southwest Ecuador. The company has completed a preliminary feasibility study for Cangrejos (2023), which is the largest primary gold deposit in Ecuador. Lumina has an experienced management team with a successful record of advancing and monetizing exploration projects.

Neil Burns, PGeo, vice-president, technical services, for Wheaton Precious Metals, and Ryan Ulansky, PEng, vice-president, engineering, are qualified persons as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101, and have reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed in this news release (specifically Mr. Burns has reviewed mineral resource estimates and Mr. Ulansky has reviewed the mineral reserve estimates).

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