EMX Royalty Corp. [EMX-TSXV, NYSE American] said Friday February 28 it has struck a deal to sell two Swedish volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) projects to District Metals Corp. [DMX-TSXV] in exchange for shares, royalties and other considerations.
EMX said the Tomtebo and Trollberget projects are located in the prolific Bergsladen mining region of southern Sweden. Both host multiple zones of polymetallic (copper-zinc-lead-silver-gold) VMS-style mineralization and are located in the vicinity of the historic Falun VMS mine, and Boliden AB’s active Garpenberg Mine. Garpenberg is one of the largest and most efficient underground polymetallic mines in the world.
The two projects are situated within a 2.5-hour drive of Stockholm-Arlanda airport and have excellent year-round access as well as nearby railway and power lines.
Mining at Tomtebo dates back to the mid-17th century and continued intermittently until 1969, with historic production averaging 4.4% copper.
The Trollberget Project is located to the northeast of the Tomtebo Project, and along the same geological trend as the Falun Mine.
EMX said the deal provides it with a 9.9% royalty equity stake in District Metals, annual advanced royalty payments of, 2.5% net smelter return royalty interests in the projects.
Upon closing, District will acquire 100% interests in the projects, while EMX will receive $35,000 in cash, and the number of common shares that represents a 9.9% stake in District Metals.
DMX will have the continuing obligation to issue additional shares of District Metals to EMX to maintain its 9.9% stake at no additional cost to EMX until District Metals has raised $3 million in equity. Thereafter, EMX will have the right to participate in future financings on a pro-rata basis and at its own cost to maintain a 9.9% interest.
EMX will receive annual royalty payments of $25,000 starting on the third anniversary of the closing dates, with each annual royalty payment increasing by $10,000 per year until reaching $75,000.
Payments of up to $550,000, payable in cash or shares of District Metals will be made to EMX once certain milestones are reached. District will be responsible for fulfilling work commitments on the projects.
On Friday, EMX shares eased 8.7% or 19 cents to $2.0. The shares trade in a 52-week range of $1.43 and $2.77. District Metals was unchanged at 14 cents and trades in a 52-week range of $0.08 and 31 cents.
EMX is a precious and base metals royalty company with a diversified portfolio of royalty, mineral property and investment interests spanning five continents. Its two key assets are the Leeville royalty in Nevada and Timok Project royalty in Serbia. Those projects are the focus of exploration and development by Nevada Gold Mines LLC and Zijin Mining Group Ltd. respectively.
News of the deal with District Metals comes after EXM recently executed an agreement to sell three nickel-copper-cobalt projects in Norway to Pursuit Minerals Ltd. [PUR-ASX], a battery metals-focused company which trades on the Australian Stock Exchange.
The Espedalen, Hosanger, and Sigdal projects each contain magmatic nickel-copper-cobalt sulfide deposits, associated with mafic-ultramafic intrusive complexes in southern Norway. Platinum group elements (PGEs) and gold are also enriched in some of the deposits although historic sampling for PGEs and gold was limited their endowments remain poorly documented.
Each of the projects contain areas of historic mining and drill-defined zones of sulfide mineralization. Nickel mining in the Espedalen area, for example, was intermittently active from 1848 to 1918. In that time, 100,000 tonnes of nickel was produced, averaging 1.0% nickel, 0.4% copper and 0.6% cobalt.