Trident Royalties: Acquires Cash Generative Gold Offtake

21st March 2022 | Trident Royalties plc

Trident Royalties Plc (AIM:TRR), the diversified mining royalty and streaming company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a gold offtake contract (the “Offtake”) over the Sugar Zone Mine in Canada (“Sugar Zone”), owned and operated by Silver Lake Resources Limited (ASX:SLR) (“Silver Lake”) from Orion Resource Partners (“Orion” or the “Seller”) (the “Transaction”). With this, Trident now holds a total of 11 cash flowing assets, in addition to its attractive pipeline of advanced stage assets.

Sugar Zone is a producing underground gold mine located in Ontario, Canada. Trident is acquiring the Offtake for a total consideration of US$3.75 million, payable in new ordinary shares of 1p each in the Company (“Ordinary Shares”) issued at 51.43p per share, being the 10-day volume weighted average price of Trident’s shares to 18 March 2022, the last trading day prior to the date of the agreement. The Offtake covers 50% of all gold production at Sugar Zone up to 375,000 delivered ounces, with approximately 335,000 ounces remaining under the Offtake.

Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Trident commented:

“I am pleased to announce the acquisition of a gold offtake over the Sugar Zone mine located in Ontario, Canada. This is the fifth transaction that Trident has announced in the last 12 months, as we maintain our momentum in delivering high-value, accretive deals.

This Transaction arises as an addition to the portfolio acquired on 11 January 2022 and builds upon our successful relationship with Orion. Now underpinned by Silver Lake’s considerable financial and operational acumen, we look forward to Sugar Zone developing into a premier Canadian gold mine. The Transaction provides Trident with accretive growth and immediate cashflow. In addition, the asset offers further geographical and operational diversity and increased exposure to the gold price and volatility, both of which remain heightened in the current geopolitical climate.

I am optimistic about the outlook. We have an excellent pipeline of potential transactions across a range of commodities, particularly towards further base and battery metal exposure, which will allow us to keep balance in our portfolio. This Transaction for shares adds an eleventh cash flowing asset to our portfolio while conserving cash reserves, ensuring we can continue to be nimble and dynamic with future transactions.”

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Sugar Zone produced 51,453 ounces of gold during calendar year 2021. The most recent resource estimates for Sugar Zone total 4.67 million tonnes (Mt) @ 10.9 g/t Au for 1.64 million troy ounces (Moz) gold 1, comprising: 2, 3
    • Probable Reserves of 3.5 Mt @ 7.2 g/t Au containing 797,000 oz Au
    • Indicated Resources of 2.8 Mt @ 11.9 g/t Au containing 1.1 Moz Au
    • Inferred Resources of 1.9 Mt @ 9.5 g/t Au containing 567,000 oz Au
  • The previous operator had completed a Feasibility Study 5 and commenced implementation of an expansion to increase the plant capacity to 1,200tpd from current installed capacity of 800tpd, which is expected to allow for gold production of circa 100,000 ounces per year prior to the acquisition by Silver Lake 4,5. Such an expansion would provide meaningful upside for Trident’s offtake exposure.
  • Silver Lake is a well-funded, ASX-listed mid-tier gold producer with a market capitalisation of approximately A$2.0 billion. As of 31 December 2021, Silver Lake held cash and bullion of A$277.9 million and had no debt.6
  • Silver Lake announced the acquisition of Sugar Zone on 21 February 2022 following a Canadian CCAA process for a total consideration of US$102 million and has recently commenced a review of operations, “with the objective of delivering material operational improvements and a low capital growth strategy to leverage the installed infrastructure and current mineral resource”.1
  • The Transaction adds another immediately cash-flowing asset to Trident’s growing portfolio, ultimately providing further diversification and lowering risk to investors, while highlighting Trident’s nimble, opportunistic approach towards acquiring accretive precious metals assets.

News in full

CEO Adam Davidson provides an overview of the business and its strategy below (Filmed May 2021)

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