Tuesday September 20, 2016 09:20
Royalty and streaming company Royal Gold Inc. (Nasdaq: RGLD) says it has agreed to acquire a 3.75% net value royalty covering a “significant” area of Barrick Gold Corp.’s Cortez mine, including the Crossroads deposit, from a private-party seller for $70 million. With this acquisition, Royal Gold says its interests at Cortez Crossroads comprise a 4.37% NVR and a 5% sliding scale gross smelter return royalty at the current gold price. Royal Gold’s interest on production from Pipeline, South Pipeline and portions of the Gap deposits are comprised of a 4.76% NVR and a 5% GSR royalty at the current gold price. “Cortez is where we created our first royalty many years ago, and it’s always been an important property for us,” says Tony Jensen, Royal Gold’s president and chief executive officer. He calls Cortez one of the world’s “premier” gold mines. “With the additional contribution from Crossroads, which has a currently estimated mine life of about nine years, we expect Cortez to become a significant contributor for Royal Gold again in the near future,” the CEO adds.