[caption id="attachment_1003741652" align="alignnone" width="550"]
Members of the Rio Tinto and Forum Energy Metals teams at Janice Lake, in Saskatchewan. Credit: Forum Energy Metals[/caption]
Vancouver-based
Nova Royalty has picked up nine new royalties from
Transition Metals, including a 1% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on the Janice Lake copper-silver project in Saskatchewan which is
being explored by major Rio Tinto.
The deal will cost Nova an initial $1.07 million in cash and 525,000 shares.
“Scott McLean and his team (at Transition Metals) have built an outstanding portfolio of properties in Canada,” said Nova president and CEO Alex Tsukernik in a release. “Janice Lake is one of the most exciting emerging copper exploration projects in Canada, and we are keen to follow Rio Tinto's progress as it systematically explores the Wollaston Copper Belt.”
Tsukernik added that the project is a “natural fit” for Nova's focus on royalties on district-scale copper and nickel projects.
Nova, formerly called BatteryOne Royalty, is focused on copper and nickel royalties – key metals associated with electric vehicles. The company has received approval for an upcoming listing on the TSX Venture Exchange this fall.
Rio Tinto is earning up to an 80% interest in Janice Lake from Forum Energy Metals, which optioned the project from Transition Metals.
In addition to the initial payment, Nova will pay Transition $1 million on completion of a feasibility study or the start of commercial production at Janice Lake; plus $1 million in common shares if projected annual production at Janice Lake is 30,000 tonnes of copper or more for at least 10 years.
Also included in the Transition deal are: a 1% NSR royalty on Transition's Wollaston copper project in Saskatchewan; a 1.25% NSR royalty on the Dundonald nickel project, 45 km northeast of Timmins, Ont.; 1% NSR royalties on three nickel-copper-platinum group metals (PGM) projects in Ontario and one gold project in B.C., all owned by Transition; and a 1% NSR (with a 0.5% buyback option) on two gold projects in Ontario (Elephant Head and West Matachewan) operated by other juniors.
Nova will also hold a first right of refusal in the event that Transition sells its retained NSR royalty interests on several projects including Janice Lake and Dundonald.
Other royalties in Nova's portfolio include: a 2% NSR royalty on copper produced at
Teck and
Newmont's NuevaUnion project in Chile (the royalty is held by a JV with
Metalla Royalty & Streaming); a 2% NSR covering 21% of the mine plan at the Dumont nickel-cobalt project in Quebec, owned by
Waterton Global Resource Investments; and a 1% NSR on three copper-gold porphyry projects held by
Pacific Empire Minerals in B.C.
For more information, visit
novaroyalty.com.
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