Santa Luz Mine First Gold Pour
1 April 2022
Trident Royalties Plc
("Trident" or the "Company")
Santa Luz Mine First Gold Pour
Trident Royalties Plc (AIM:TRR), the diversified mining royalty and streaming company, is pleased to note the Equinox Gold Corp. ("Equinox") announcement on 30 March 2022 that it has successfully poured first gold at the Santa Luz Mine in Brazil ("Santa Luz"). 1
Santa Luz is a brownfield gold asset with an expected mine life of 9.5 years, in addition to the potential for further underground production.2 Trident owns a gold offtake (the "Offtake") which entitles it to purchase 35% of all refined gold produced from three operating mines: Santa Luz, Fazenda, and RDM. The Offtake is subject to a cap of 658,333 ounces of refined gold, of which 465,437 ounces remained under the contract upon acquisition of the Offtake on 11 January 2022. As detailed in the Trident announcement of 13 December 2021, the Company earns a margin equal to the difference between the sale price of the gold received under the Offtake and the lowest reference price during the Quotation Period.3
HIGHLIGHTS
· First gold poured with material from the leach circuit at Santa Luz, with the mine expected to ramp up to commercial production over the next few months.
· Equinox noted that, "When operating at capacity, Santa Luz is expected to produce approximately 100,000 ounces of gold annually. During 2022, with a partial year of production, Santa Luz is expected to produce 70,000 to 90,000 ounces of gold."4
· Following the first gold pour at Santa Luz, Trident now holds a total of 13 cash flowing assets.
Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Trident commented:
"Trident is maintaining excellent momentum in 2022. This year we have already announced first gold production from the Lincoln Gold Mine - over which Trident holds a royalty - and recently, the receipt of first delivery under the gold offtake with i-80 Gold. These milestones reinforce the quality of the assets acquired since our listing in June 2020. With a total of 13 producing assets generating cashflow, we have increasing flexibility in executing on our pipeline of targeted transactions.
I would like to congratulate Equinox on delivering this first pour at Santa Luz on time, on budget, and with no lost-time injuries. We look forward to continuing to update on the progress of our existing assets and the addition of new assets to the portfolio."
About the Santa Luz, RDM and Fazenda mines
Santa Luz is a mine restart gold project consisting of an open-pit and resin ‐ in ‐ leach plant. With a Total Reserve of 1.07Moz @ 1.34g/t Au 5, gold production is expected to average 110.5koz per year for the first 5 years and to average 95koz per year over the initial 9.5-year mine life. Equinox reports that Santa Luz is currently targeting gold production of 70k-90koz in 2022.4
RDM Mine, a conventional open pit and carbon-in-leach ("CIL") operation, is scheduled to process up to 2.88Mt per year with the potential to expand to 3.28Mt per year. Current production will recover 484koz gold over a 7 year mine life, consisting of 6 years of mining and two additional months of processing. Potential underground production could extend the mine life. Equinox reports that RMD is currently targeting gold production of 70k-80koz in 2022.4
Fazenda Mine has been in operation for over 30 years, it is primarily an underground operation, with supplementary small open pits, and a 1.3Mt per year capacity CIL milling facility. Equinox reports that Fazenda is currently targeting gold production of 60k-65koz in 2022.4
References
1. Source: News Release dated 30 March 2022 (Equinox Gold Corp.)
( https://www.equinoxgold.com/news/equinox-gold-pours-first-gold-at-its-santa-luz-mine )
2. Source: Equinox Gold Corp.
( https://www.equinoxgold.com/operations/growth-projects/santa-luz-project/#overview )
3. Source: Trident Royalties PLC company announcement dated 13 December 2021
( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/x52139x )
4. Source: News Release dated 25 January 2022 (Equinox Gold Corp.)
5. Source: NI 43-101 Technical Report dated 30 November 2020 (Equinox Gold Corp.)
Santa Luz Mineral Reserves - 30 June 2020 5
|
Category of Mineral Reserve |
Tonnes ('000s) |
Gold Grade (g/t) |
Contained Gold (oz) |
|
Proven - Open Pit |
21,578 |
1.39 |
966,106 |
|
Probable - Open Pit |
1,170 |
1.28 |
48,202 |
|
Probable - Stockpile |
2,191 |
0.86 |
60,634 |
|
Total Proven & Probable |
24,939 |
1.34 |
1,074,941 |
** Ends **
Contact details:
|
Trident Royalties Plc Adam Davidson / Paul Smith |
www.tridentroyalties.com +1 (757) 208-5171 / +41 79 947 1348 |
|
Grant Thornton (Nominated Adviser) Colin Aaronson / Samantha Harrison / Samuel Littler |
+44 020 7383 5100 |
|
Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (Joint Broker) Callum Stewart / Ashton Clanfield |
+44 20 7710 7600 |
|
Tamesis Partners LLP (Joint Broker) Richard Greenfield |
+44 20 3882 2868 |
|
Hudson Sandler Investor Relations: John Smelt Public Relations: Charlie Jack / Harry Griffiths |
+44 207 796 4133 |
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:
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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.
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