Ecuador-focused miner SolGold (LON, TSX:SOLG) has secured up to $150 million from streaming company Franco Nevada (TSX, NYSE: FNV), which it will use to develop its Alpala copper-gold project.
The Australian miner said the net smelters returns (NSR)
agreement includes an initial $100 million. Franco-Nevada, which provides
natural resource companies with upfront cash in exchange for future production,
will receive a perpetual 1% net smelter return (NSR) interest in return.
NSR is the net revenue a mining company receive
from the sale of its output, less transportation and refining costs.
The total amount could increase by $50 million, which would
also increase the NSR for Franco Nevada to 1.5%, SolGold said.
The company said it would spend the coming months developing
a feasibility study of Alpala, the largest deposit found at its Cascabel
copper-gold asset, located 180 km north of Ecuador’s capital, Quito.
SolGold, which says its Ecuadorian project is one of the largest copper-gold porphyry systems ever discovered, expects to start production in 2025.
Attracting top miners
In the past two years, Ecuador has attracted a flurry of
interest from big miners looking to increase their exposure to copper. The
highly conductive metal is in demand for use in renewable energy and electric
vehicles, but big, new deposits are rare.
Diversified majors particularly favour such large-scale,
long-life projects as the one SolGold promises. BHP, for one, upped its stake in the company last year to 15.31%
from 14.7%, becoming the miner’s top shareholder.
Australia’s largest gold producer, Newcrest Mining (ASX: NCM), is the second largest investor in SolGold, with a 15.23% interest.
Ecuador has been trying to move from an explorer hotspot
to a mining exporter. Its oil-led economy has been hit hard
over the past few months.
The nation is currently reeling from both the spread of
covid-19 and the collapse of global oil prices.
Prior to recent developments, the South American country
expected to attract $3.7 billion in mining investments between 2019 and 2020,
up significantly from the $270 million it received in 2018.
SolGold’s stock surged by over 8.5% on Monday morning
following news of the funding. The gold and copper producer’s market
capitalization is sitting at $661 million.