Wheaton Precious Metals secures $530m in existing streams

Staff Writer | November 16, 2023 | 10:45 am Top Companies Africa Gold Palladium Platinum 

Construction at Platreef’s Shaft 1. (Image courtesy of Ivanhoe Mines.)

Wheaton Precious Metals (LSE: WPM, TSX:WPM, NYSE:WPM) announced on Thursday agreements to acquire existing royalty streams on Ivanhoe Mines’ Platreef project in South Africa and the Kudz Ze Kayah project held by BMC Minerals in Canada’s Yukon Territory.

Wheaton will pay $450 million to Orion on the closing of the acquisition of the Platreef Streams and Kudz Ze Kayah Streams, with an additional $5 million contingency payment in respect of the Kudz Ze Kayah Stream.

The company will also pay $20 million to an affiliate of Dalradian Gold on an early deposit basis relative to the Curraghinalt Stream, with an additional $55 million being paid during construction of the Curraghinalt project, subject to various customary conditions being satisfied.

“The acquisition of these diverse, high-quality streams fits seamlessly into our portfolio of high-margin, low-cost assets, with near-term production from Platreef significantly adding to our already robust growth profile,” Wheaton CEO Randy Smallwood said in a statement.

According to Ivanhoe, Platreef is the world’s largest undeveloped precious metals project. Attributable production is forecast to average over 13,000 oz of gold and 8,500 oz for each of palladium and platinum per year for the first 10 years, increasing to over 24,000 oz of gold and 13,500 oz for each of palladium and platinum the following 10 years.

Commercial production is expected in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals rose 3% in late morning trading on Thursday. The company has a $20.7 billion market capitalization.