Last checked at 7 Aug 2023 07:00
7 August 2023
Trident Royalties Plc
("Trident" or the "Company")
Portfolio Update: Positive Asset-Level Progress by Project Operators
Trident Royalties Plc (AIM: TRR, OTCQX: TDTRF), the diversified mining royalty company, is pleased to note significant progress by the operators of several projects over which it holds royalties and offtakes.
Thacker Pass Lithium Royalty1
· Lithium Americas announced that at its Annual General Meeting, shareholders overwhelmingly approved the separation of the company into Lithium Americas (Argentina) Corp. and a new Lithium Americas Corp. Thacker Pass will be held within Lithium Americas Corp.
· This change in structure, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, will allow a second tranche investment of US$330 million from General Motors into the new Lithium Americas Corp. The new structure may also help in obtaining US government assistance for transition material funding.
· Trident owns a 60% interest in a 1.75% gross revenue royalty (1.05% net to Trident) over the Thacker Pass lithium project.
Greenstone Gold Offtake2,3
· Equinox Gold announced that the Greenstone Project is 85% complete and is progressing on schedule and on budget. First gold is expected in H1 2024.
· US$976 million has been spent to date, with all purchase orders and construction contracts for project completion in place to develop one of the largest gold mines in Canada, with annual gold production of more than 400,000 ounces per year over the first five years, and more than five million ounces of gold production expected over its 14-year life.
· Trident has a guarantee from Premier Gold Mines Limited (a subsidiary of Equinox) that the annual offtake cap of 58,500 ounces will be delivered in full in 2024 and 2025. Any shortfall in deliveries will be compensated at a rate of US$23.50 per ounce (totalling US$1.38 million in revenue to Trident). The tenure of the offtake remains unchanged, through to 1 March 2027.
Eagle Gold Offtake4,5
· Victoria Gold announced a very strong start to 2023, with H1 2023 gold production 47% higher than H1 2022.
· This strong performance follows an Updated Technical Report released earlier in the year which highlighted average annual gold production of 202,000 ounces per year over the first 8 years, with total gold production of over 2 million ounces over a 12-year mine life.
· Trident is entitled to an offtake for 25% of gold production up to a cap of 1,111,500 delivered ounces (nearly 1M ounces remaining).
Sugar Zone Gold Offtake6
· Silver Lake has highlighted that it believes Sugar Zone can deliver higher margins and longer asset life. This will require an idling of mining and processing activities over the next 12 months to allow a substantial drilling programme along with a reset of mining practices and an upgrade to site logistics.
· Silver Lake is investing $35 million in growth capital at Sugar Zone, including $28 million for an exploration program, with ~93,000 meters of drilling, to be completed in the coming months.
· Trident is entitled to an offtake for 50% of all gold production from Sugar Zone up to 370,000 ounces, with over 300,000 ounces remaining.
i80 Gold Offtake7,8,9
· i80 Gold announced the closing of a C$36.8 million equity raise with proceeds to be used for exploration, development and ramp-up of the company's mineral projects and for general corporate purposes and working capital.
· i80 Gold is advancing underground development, surface and underground drilling, increasing mining rates, and progressing updated resource work for economic studies at Granite Creek.
· At Ruby Hill, gold is being produced via a residual leaching program while drilling continues to define and expand mineralization in multiple zones. A Preliminary Economic Assessment is near completion while metallurgical work and associated permitting is being advanced for underground development and processing planning.
· i80 Gold announced a new discovery at Ruby Hill at a previously untested area returning high-grade mineralization over a substantial intercept width, assaying 45.4 g/t Au and 50.2 g/t Ag over 17.5 m.
· Trident is entitled to an offtake for 100% of all gold production from i80 Gold properties up to 37,500 ounces in 2023, increasing to 40,000 ounces in 2024-2028.
Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of Trident commented:
"We have seen good progress across the portfolio in the first half of 2023, which provides a strong underpin to our asset value. We are also maintaining a good pipeline of prospective transactions, which backed by our robust balance sheet, should deliver further value accretion for shareholders. We look forward to updating shareholders over the course of 2023."
References
1: Source: Lithium Americas announcement dated 31 July 2023
( https://www.lithiumamericas.com/news/ )
2: Source: Equinox Gold announcement dated 1 August 2023
( https://www.equinoxgold.com/news/equinox-golds-greenstone-project-on-schedule-on-budget-3/ )
3: Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 14 April 2023
( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/rmzg65w )
4: Source: Victoria Gold announcement dated 5 July 2023
( https://vgcx.com/news/ )
5: Source: Victoria Gold announcement dated 10 April 2023
( https://vgcx.com/news/ )
6: Source: Silver Lake Resources announcement dated 31 July 2023
( https://www.silverlakeresources.com.au/investors/asx-announcements )
7: Source: i80 Gold announcement dated 1 August 2023
( https://www.i80gold.com/i-80-gold-closes-c36-8-million-bought-deal-private-placement-including-full-exercise-of-the-underwriters-option/ )
8: Source: i80 Gold announcement dated 11 July 2023
( https://www.i80gold.com/i-80-gold-provides-comprehensive-operations-update/ )
9: Source: i80 Gold announcement dated 2 August 2023
( https://www.i80gold.com/i-80-gold-discovers-high-grade-gold-sulphide-zone-at-ruby-hill/ )
Competent Person's Statement
The technical information contained in this disclosure has been read and approved by Mr Nick O'Reilly (MSc, DIC, MAusIMM, MIMMM, FGS), who is a qualified geologist and acts as the Competent Person under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr O'Reilly is a Principal Consultant working for Mining Analyst Consulting Ltd which has been retained by Trident to provide technical support.
** Ends **
Contact details:
Trident Royalties Plc Adam Davidson / Richard Hughes | www.tridentroyalties.com +1 (757) 208-5171 / +44 7967 589997 |
Grant Thornton (Nominated Adviser) Colin Aaronson / Samantha Harrison / Samuel Littler | www.grantthornton.co.uk +44 020 7383 5100 |
Liberum Capital Limited (Joint Broker) Scott Mathieson / Cara Murphy | www.liberum.com +44 20 3100 2184 |
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Joint Broker) Callum Stewart / Ashton Clanfield | www.stifelinstitutional.com +44 20 7710 7600 |
Tamesis Partners LLP (Joint Broker) Richard Greenfield | www.tamesispartners.com +44 20 3882 2868 |
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR & IR) Susie Geliher / Catherine Leftley | www.stbridespartners.co.uk +44 20 7236 1177 |
About Trident
Trident is a growth-focused diversified mining royalty and streaming company, providing investors with exposure to a mix of base battery, precious, and bulk metals.
Key highlights of Trident's strategy include:
· | Building upon a royalty and streaming portfolio which broadly mirrors the commodity exposure of the global mining sector (excluding fossil fuels) with a bias towards production or near-production assets, differentiating Trident from the majority of peers which are exclusively, or heavily weighted, to precious metals;
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· | Acquiring royalties and streams in resource-friendly jurisdictions worldwide, while most competitors have portfolios focused on North and South America;
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· | Targeting attractive small-to-mid size transactions which are often ignored in a sector dominated by large players;
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· | Active deal-sourcing which, in addition to writing new royalties and streams, will focus on the acquisition of assets held by natural sellers such as: closed-end funds, prospect generators, junior and mid-tier miners holding royalties as non-core assets, and counterparties seeking to monetise packages of royalties and streams which are otherwise undervalued by the market;
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· | Maintaining a low-overhead model which is capable of supporting a larger scale business without a commensurate increase in operating costs; and
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· | Leveraging the experience of management, the board of directors, and Trident's adviser team, all of whom have deep industry connections and strong transactional experience across multiple commodities and jurisdictions. |
The acquisition and aggregation of individual royalties and streams is expected to deliver strong returns for shareholders as assets are acquired on terms reflective of single asset risk compared with the lower risk profile of a diversified, larger scale portfolio. Further value is expected to be delivered by the introduction of conservative levels of leverage through debt. Once scale has been achieved, strong cash generation is expected to support an attractive dividend policy, providing investors with a desirable mix of inflation protection, growth and income.
Forward-looking Statements
This news release contains forward‐looking information. The statements are based on reasonable assumptions and expectations of management and Trident provides no assurance that actual events will meet management's expectations. In certain cases, forward‐looking information may be identified by such terms as "anticipates", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "may", "shall", "will", or "would". Although Trident believes the expectations expressed in such forward‐looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected. Mining exploration and development is an inherently risky business. In addition, factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from the forward-looking information stated herein include any factors which affect decisions to pursue mineral exploration on the relevant property and the ultimate exercise of option rights, which may include changes in market conditions, changes in metal prices, general economic and political conditions, environmental risks, and community and non-governmental actions. Such factors will also affect whether Trident will ultimately receive the benefits anticipated pursuant to relevant agreements. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the forward‐looking statements. These and other factors should be considered carefully and readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Third Party Information
As a royalty and streaming company, Trident often has limited, if any, access to non-public scientific and technical information in respect of the properties underlying its portfolio of royalties and investments, or such information is subject to confidentiality provisions. As such, in preparing this announcement, the Company often largely relies upon information provided by or the public disclosures of the owners and operators of the properties underlying its portfolio of royalties, as available at the date of this announcement.