Q4 2022 Activities Update

Trident Royalties Plc (AIM: TRR), the diversified mining royalty company, is pleased to provide an update on its activities during the quarter ended 31 December 2022.

HIGHLIGHTS

Q4 royalty receipts & cash position

• Record quarterly receipts of US$3.5 million from exposure to gold, copper, mineral sands, and iron ore. A quarter-on-quarter increase of 46% and ninefold increase over Q4 2021.
• Total 2022 royalty receipts of US$13.8 million, a nearly eightfold increase over 2021.

Royalty                                                  Q4 2022 (US$)      Q3 2022 (US$)      Q4 2021 (US$)     

 Koolyanobbing iron ore royalty                  532,573                  406,963                             –

Mimbula copper royalty                                500,000                500,000                     375,000

Lincoln gold royalty                                        173,500                  173,500                             –

Gold offtakes portfolio                                    2,228,866             1,308,176                          –

Kwale mineral sands royalty                          61,074                          –                                    –

Total*                                                            3,496,033           2,388,639               375,000

*Reserve Bank of Australia for 30 December 2022 (0.6755) and 30 September 2022 (0.6502)

Cash of US$21.8 million as of 27 January 2023, providing a strong platform for further acquisitions. This cash balance includes revenue from the gold offtake streams, but does not include Q4 royalty receipts.

• Cash position will increase further upon completion of the sale of a portfolio of pre-production gold royalties to Franco-Nevada Corporation for cash proceeds of up to US$15.8 million.* The transaction crystallised a return on invested capital of 143%, while bringing Trident’s portfolio gold allocation in line with longer term expectations and providing additional capital for redeployment.

Transactions & portfolio asset-level progress

• Post-quarter end, Trident acquired a 0.25% Free On Board (“FOB”) royalty over the Kwale mineral sands project in Kenya, with an effective date of 1 October 2022. Kwale commenced production in 2013, with operator Base Resources recently extending the scheduled mine life to the end of 2024. Though a non-material purchase consideration and limited remaining mine life on the current schedule, Trident considers the prospects of further mine life extensions to be positive.
• Following an oral hearing held by the US District Court of Nevada on 5 January 2023 for the appeal of the issuance of the Record of Decision for the Thacker Pass Lithium Project, the Court reaffirmed no additional hearings or briefings are required and it expects to issue a decision in the “next couple of months”.**
• Ganfeng Lithium confirmed that the Sonora Lithium Project is under construction while noting that planned Stage 2 production increased by 43% to 50,000 tonnes per annum of lithium hydroxide.*** The final appeal challenging the validity of the royalty was held on 13 January 2023, with a decision expected in the coming months.

Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of Trident commented:

“Trident has continued to generate good momentum over the past 12 months, and we finished 2022 with our best operational quarter since inception. Q4 2022 saw record royalty receipts of $3.5 million, 46% higher than the previous quarter and a ninefold year-on-year increase.

There has also been significant progress across the portfolio. Mimbula continues to develop into a meaningful copper operation, recently producing first cathode and with the operator raising in excess of US$135m across 2022 to support development and future expansion plans. Legal hearings for appeals at both Thacker Pass and Sonora were held in early January, with decisions expected in the coming months. We remain encouraged by progress at both, which moves us towards achieving meaningful battery metal exposure and transforming the portfolio and future cashflows.

The disposal of several pre-production gold royalties to Franco-Nevada crystallises significant value for our shareholders and by further strengthening the balance sheet, enables us to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Commodity demand requires capital investment, and with traditional equity and debt markets currently unfavourable to many operators, royalties are likely to fill part of this funding gap. Having built a very strong balance sheet over the past year, Trident is well placed to be part of this. We have a solid core portfolio and are assessing a wide range of opportunities. We look forward to reporting on progress during what is likely to be a key year for the Company.”

References

*Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 9 December 2022

( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/w31243x )

**Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 9 January 2023

( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/xel0mjr )

***Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 24 October 2022

( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/xo1pnmr )

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