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On June 18, 2019, Cobalt 27 announced that it had entered into an agreement with Pala Investments Limited (“Pala”) whereby Pala would acquire 100% of Cobalt 27’s issued and outstanding common shares. The implied price paid by Pala for Cobalt 27’s streaming agreement on the Voisey’s Bay mine was significantly lower than the original upfront cash payment paid by Cobalt 27 to Vale at the time their agreement was entered into. The estimated implied purchase price paid by Pala to acquire Cobalt 27’s Voisey’s Bay stream was determined to be an indicator of impairment relative to the Company’s Voisey’s Bay PMPA.
The Voisey’s Bay PMPA had a carrying value at June 30, 2019, of $393 million. Management estimated that the recoverable amount at June 30, 2019, under the Voisey’s Bay PMPA was $227 million, resulting in an impairment charge of $166 million.
Second Quarter Asset Highlights
During the second quarter of 2019 attributable production was 100,600 ounces of gold, 4.8 million ounces of silver and 5,700 ounces of palladium, representing an increase of 11% and a decrease of 19% for gold and silver, respectively, as compared with the second quarter of 2018.
Operational highlights for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, are as follows:
Salobo
In the second quarter of 2019, Salobo produced 67,100 ounces of attributable gold, virtually unchanged relative to the second quarter of 2018 as lower throughput and recoveries were almost completely offset by higher grades. In Vale S.A.’s (“Vale”) Second Quarter 2019 Performance Report, Vale reports that the ongoing expansion at Salobo continues to progress with the completion of the earthworks in the crushing and flotation plants in the quarter.
Peñasquito
In the second quarter of 2019, Peñasquito produced 0.7 million ounces of attributable silver, a decrease of approximately 45% relative to the second quarter of 2018 primarily due to lower throughput resulting from an illegal blockade in the quarter partially offset by higher grades. In April 2019, Newmont Mining Corporation and Goldcorp Inc. merged to form Newmont Goldcorp Corporation (“Newmont”). On June 17, 2019, Newmont announced that it was ramping up operations at Peñasquito following the lifting of the illegal blockade and the establishment of a dialogue process sponsored by the national government. Newmont also states that shipments from the mine have resumed and that during the49-day suspension of operations, the mine used the downtime to bring forward maintenance on a variety of systems and equipment.
San Dimas
In the second quarter of 2019, San Dimas produced 11,500 ounces of attributable gold, an increase of approximately 101% relative to the second quarter of 2018 as the San Dimas gold stream was effective May 10, 2018. According to First Majestic Silver Corp.’s (“First Majestic”) second quarter of 2019 production report, the San Dimas mill processed a total of 172,368 tonnes with average silver and gold grades of 312 g/t and 4.32 g/t, respectively. According to First Majestic, throughput was up 6% and silver and gold grades improved 9% and 3%, respectively, compared to the prior quarter due to higher grades in the Jessica and Victoria veins.
Sudbury
In the second quarter of 2019, Vale’s Sudbury mines produced 9,000 ounces of attributable gold, an increase of approximately 39% relative to the second quarter of 2018 primarily due to higher throughput. As a reminder, production in the second quarter of 2018 was impacted by the Coleman mine being shutdown down for unscheduled maintenance from November 2017 to April 2018.