Trident Royalties PLC Announces Q1 2023 Activities Update
Q1 2023 Activities Update
LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / May 3, 2023 / Trident Royalties Plc (AIM:TRR)(OTCQX:TDTRF), the diversified mining royalty company, is pleased to provide an update on its activities during the quarter ended 31 March 2023.
HIGHLIGHTS
Q1 royalty receipts & cash position
- Record quarterly receipts of US
$3.6 million from exposure to gold, copper, and iron ore. A year-on-year increase of63% over Q1 2022. - The gold offtakes portfolio saw particularly strong performance with a
48% increase over Q1 2022 when compared on a like-for-like basis (accounting for the disposal of the Mercedes mine from the Premier Offtake, on 14 April 20221), while the Koolyanobbing iron ore royalty delivered its highest quarterly payment to-date. - Trident holds cash of c. US
$37 million as at 28 April 2023, providing a strong platform for further acquisitions. This cash balance includes proceeds from the gold offtakes but excludes Q1 royalty receipts.
Royalty / Stream | Q1 2023 (US$M) | Q1 2022 (US$M) | % Change |
Koolyanobbing iron ore royalty* | 0.86 | 0.16 | |
Mimbula copper royalty | 0.75 | 0.50 | |
Lincoln gold royalty | 0.15 | - | - |
Gold offtakes portfolio | 1.88 | 1.58 | |
Total | 3.64 | 2.23 |
*Reserve Bank of Australia for 31 March 2023 (0.6712) and 31 March 2022 (0.7482)
Adam Davidson, Chief Executive Officer of Trident commented:
"It has been a positive quarter for the existing portfolio, with significant updates at the Thacker Pass Lithium Project, the Mimbula Copper Project continuing to ramp production, and the gold offtake portfolio delivering strong growth and cashflows.
Our pipeline of prospective transactions is attractive. Following the highly profitable disposal of several gold royalties in February, coupled with a further reduction of our cost of debt, we have put our balance sheet in an excellent position to take advantage of current market conditions. We look forward to providing updates as the year progresses."
Portfolio Update:
Gold Royalties Sale Transaction 2
- Following a competitive sales process, Trident sold its pre-production gold royalties over Rebecca, Spring Hill, and three other projects acquired as a portfolio from Talga Group to Franco-Nevada Corporation in exchange for cash proceeds of up to US
$15.55 million .- The Royalties were acquired by Trident for approximately US
$6.25 million , representing a return on invested capital of over140% in approximately two years. - US
$14.3 million of the consideration has been received, with US$1.25 million to be paid upon first production from the Rebecca Gold Project.
- The Royalties were acquired by Trident for approximately US
- Reflecting the value unlocked by the transaction, Macquarie agreed to restructure Trident's existing US
$40 million debt facility, to include a2% reduction in coupon (reducing debt service costs by up to US$800,000 per year), deferral of scheduled quarterly payments, and a one-year extension of the loan term.
Thacker Pass Lithium Project 3,4
- Lithium Americas Corp., operator of Thacker Pass, announced the commencement of construction following the receipt of notice to proceed from the US Bureau of Land Management.
- General Motors is investing US
$650 million toward project development and has entered into a 10-year offtake agreement to purchase Phase 1 production to support production of up to 1 million electric vehicles per year. - Thacker Pass is targeting 80,000 tonnes per annum ("tpa") of battery-quality lithium carbonate production capacity in two phases of 40,000 tpa. Phase 1 production is expected to commence in the second half of 2026.
Koolyanobbing Iron Ore Project 5
- Trident's quarterly royalty payment saw a marginal decrease in production tonnage from the royalty zone, offset by materially higher iron ore prices and realisations associated with the recent shift to production of a higher proportion of lump product from Koolyanobbing.
Offtakes Gold Portfolio
- Gold deliveries decreased by
16% during the quarter, from 74,085 gold ounces in Q4 to 62,335 in Q1. This was largely anticipated as production tends to spike in Q4 as operators seek to maximize calendar year production. Year-over-year deliveries increased by31% over Q1 2022 when compared on a like-for-like basis, while the gold spot price also increased by c. US$166 per ounce over the course of Q1, positively impacting margins. - Allied Gold Corp Limited ("Allied"), operator of the Bonikro gold mine over which Trident holds an uncapped gold offtake, announced its public listing plans.9 Allied highlighted drilling focused on extending the mine life to over 10 years, well in excess of Trident's initial estimate.
Sonora Lithium Project 6,7,8
- In its 2022 Annual Results, Ganfeng Lithium, operator of the Sonora Lithium Project, confirmed that the project is under construction while noting that planned Stage 2 production increased by
43% to 50,000 tpa of lithium hydroxide.6 - After the period end, the Alberta Court of Appeal overturned, on appeal, a judgment which had summarily dismissed an action brought by Bacanora Minerals Ltd. ("Bacanora") against the Estate of Ian Colin Orr-Ewing ("Estate"). The lower Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta had held that the dispute by Bacanora was time barred; on appeal, this was overturned for technical reasons. Now the matter will be resolved on the merits, which, if determined in the Estate's favour, will definitively affirm the validity of the royalty. Bacanora must now argue the merits of its case and persuade the Alberta court that the royalty is invalid as a result of it being created without consideration or by way of fraudulent or other misrepresentation.7
- The conditions requiring Trident to provide funding in respect of the
50% Trident joint venture company Sonoroy Holdings Ltd ("Sonoroy"), to facilitate completion of the acquisition of the Sonora Gross Revenue Royalty, by Sonoroy remain at Trident's discretion. If Trident elects to exit the joint venture, the initial loan made by Trident to Sonoroy of US$2.5 million is due six months of such election.8 At the present time, Trident has no intention of exiting the joint venture.
References
1: Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 14 April 2022
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/rmzg65w)
2: Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 23 February 2023
( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/rye8j8w)
3: Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 8 February 2023
( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/xzj2y7w)
4: Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 3 March 2023
( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/r773q1r )
5. Source: Mineral Resources announcement dated 26 April 2023
( https://clients3.weblink.com.au/clients/mineralresources/v2/headline.aspx?headlineid=61146475)
6. Source: Ganfeng Lithium announcement dated 29 March 2023
( http://www.ganfenglithium.com/ir_detail_en/id/2598.html)
7. Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 28 April 2023
(https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/xel1zjr )
8. Source: Trident Royalties announcement dated 27 January 2022
( https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/trident/news/rns/story/x2kjzlx )
9. Source: Allied Gold Corp, 27 April 2023
( https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/163921 )
Competent Person's Statement
The technical information contained in this disclosure has been read and approved by Mr Nick O'Reilly (MSc, DIC, MAusIMM, MIMMM, FGS), who is a qualified geologist and acts as the Competent Person under the AIM Rules - Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Mr O'Reilly is a Principal Consultant working for Mining Analyst Consulting Ltd which has been retained by Trident to provide technical support.
The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
** Ends **
Contact details:
Trident Royalties Plc Adam Davidson / Richard Hughes | +1 (757) 208-5171 / +44 7967 589997 |
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 |
Liberum Capital Limited (Joint Broker) Scott Mathieson / Cara Murphy | +44 20 3100 2184 |
Tamesis Partners LLP (Joint Broker) Richard Greenfield | +44 20 3882 2868 |
St Brides Partners Ltd (Financial PR & IR) Susie Geliher / Catherine Leftley | +44 20 7236 1177 |
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:
| 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; | |
| Acquiring royalties and streams in resource-friendly jurisdictions worldwide, while most competitors have portfolios focused on North and South America; | |
| Targeting attractive small-to-mid size transactions which are often ignored in a sector dominated by large players; | |
| 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; | |
| Maintaining a low-overhead model which is capable of supporting a larger scale business without a commensurate increase in operating costs; and | |
| 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.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
SOURCE: Trident Royalties PLC
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