Note 3 - Acquisitions and Other Transactions
(a) | Acquisition of Royalty on Pascua-Lama Project – Chile |
Subsequent to quarter-end, Franco-Nevada, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, agreed to acquire a sliding-scale gold royalty and fixed-rate copper royalty from private individuals over property pertaining to the Chilean portion of Barrick Gold Corp.’s Pascua-Lama project for an aggregate purchase price of $75.0 million. At gold prices exceeding $800/ounce, the Company will hold a 2.70% NSR (gold) and 0.54% NSR (copper) on the property.
(b) | Acquisition of Royalty on Volcan Gold Project – Chile |
Subsequent to quarter-end, on July 6, 2023, Franco-Nevada, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, agreed to acquire a 1.5% NSR on the Volcan gold project located in the Maricunga Gold Belt in the Atacama region of Chile for a purchase price of $15.0 million. The project is owned by Tiernan Gold Corporation, a company privately held by Hochschild Mining plc. The agreement provides Franco-Nevada the option to acquire an additional 1.0% NSR based on pre-determined conditions.
(c) | Funding of the Tocantinzinho Stream – Brazil |
On June 30, 2023, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Franco-Nevada (Barbados) Corporation (“FNBC”), disbursed $93.1 million in relation to its stream commitment for the Tocantinzinho project, for a total of $183.8 million disbursed as at June 30, 2023 and a remaining commitment of $66.2 million. The stream, which is in reference to production from the Tocantinzinho project, located in Pará State, Brazil, and owned by G Mining Ventures Corp. (“G Mining Ventures”), was acquired on July 18, 2022 for a purchase price of $250.0 million, payable in instalments, subject to the satisfaction of various conditions. The stream agreement is accounted for as an acquisition of a stream interest.
Additionally, through one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Franco-Nevada provided G Mining Ventures with a $75.0 million secured term loan facility (the “Term Loan”). As at June 30, 2023, no funding has been provided to G Mining Ventures in connection with the Term Loan.
(d) | Acquisition of Additional Royalty Interest on Caserones – Chile |
During the six months ended June 30, 2023, Franco-Nevada, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, acquired an incremental effective NSR totaling 0.1120% on the Caserones copper-molybdenum mine, now owned by Lundin Mining Corporation, located in the Atacama region of Chile. Inclusive of the Company’s interest of 0.4582% acquired in April 2022, Franco-Nevada now holds a 0.5702% effective NSR on Caserones. The incremental effective 0.1120% NSR was acquired in two transactions: (i) a 0.0260% effective NSR on March 8, 2023, for a purchase price of $2.1 million, and (ii) a 0.0860% NSR on June 29, 2023, for a purchase price of $7.3 million.
The transactions have been accounted for as an acquisition of a mineral royalty interest.
(e) | Acquisition Agreement for New Royalties with EMX Royalty Corporation |
On June 27, 2023, Franco-Nevada executed a binding term sheet with EMX Royalty Corporation (“EMX”) for a three-year arrangement for the joint acquisition of newly created precious metals and copper royalties sourced by EMX. Franco-Nevada will contribute 55% (up to $5.5 million) and EMX will contribute 45% (up to $4.5 million) towards the royalty acquisitions, with the resulting royalty interests equally split on a 50/50 basis.
(f) | Acquisition of Royalties on Exploration Properties – Nevada and Arizona, U.S. |
On June 15, 2023, Franco-Nevada, through a wholly-owned subsidiary, acquired a portfolio of eight royalties on exploration properties located in the states of Nevada and Arizona, including a 0.5% NSR on Integra Resources Corp.’s Wildcat and Mountain View gold projects, for a purchase price of $2.5 million.
The transaction has been accounted for as an acquisition of mineral royalty interests.
(g) | Acquisition of Additional Royalty on Valentine Gold Project and Private Placement with Marathon Gold Corporation – Newfoundland, Canada |
On June 8, 2023, Franco-Nevada acquired an additional 1.5% NSR on Marathon Gold Corporation’s (“Marathon”) Valentine Gold project located in Newfoundland for a purchase price of $45.0 million. Inclusive of Franco-Nevada’s initial 1.5% NSR (reduced from 2.0% following Marathon’s buy-back of 0.5%, as described below), the Company now holds an aggregate 3.0% NSR on the project.
Subsequent to quarter-end, on July 5, 2023, Franco-Nevada acquired 6,578,947 common shares of Marathon at a price of C$0.76 per common share for an aggregate of $3.8 million (C$5.0 million), comprising the back-end of a non-brokered charity flow-through offering.