(Kitco News) - On Monday, Metalla Royalty & Streaming (NYSE:MTA; TSXV: MTA) announced that it has entered into a royalty purchase agreement to acquire an existing 2.5% to 3.75% gross value return royalty on gold and silver, and a 0.25% to 3.0% net smelter return royalty on copper and other non-precious minerals extracted from the majority of the Lama project owned by Barrick Gold.
Metalla said it has agreed to pay an aggregate of $7.5 million in consideration for the royalties, adding that the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and exchange approvals and is expected to close in Q1 2023.
President and CEO Brett Heath commented, "The Lama project is part of one of the largest gold deposits in the world currently being contemplated by Barrick as a standalone operation. Our royalty will provide Metalla shareholders with outstanding exposure to one of the most significant geological gold bearing trends with a substantial amount of near-term growth, exploration upside, and first in class operator."
Lama is the Argentine portion of the 21Moz gold Pascua-Lama project straddling the border between Chile and Argentina. The Chilean Pascua portion has been placed into a closure process while the Argentine Lama portion, which has contained metal of 3.13 Moz gold and 236.9 Moz silver, is being considered as a standalone underground project as part of a potential Veladero-Lama complex operation.
Barrick has spent over $4 billion on infrastructure in the vicinity and the Lama project would utilize the semi-completed process plant and tailings facilities. Barrick has outlined a block cave underground Lama project with an initial processing capacity of 13-15 Ktpd with the potential to expand to 30 Ktpd in the future.
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