TNR Gold Corp. has announced that it has successfully closed the July 2022 royalty purchase agreement with an Ontario limited partnership affiliated with Lithium Royalty Corp (“LRC”) for the sale of a portion of its net smelter returns royalty involving (“NSR“) the Mariana Lithium Project. LRC has purchased from TNR a 0.5% NSR royalty for US$9,000,000, including 0.05% NSR royalty sold by TNR on behalf of its shareholder. This represents one-quarter of the NSR royalty held by the Company. LRC is an arms’ length party to the Company.
As disclosed in previous news releases, TNR sold the portion of the NSR royalty which is not subject to any buy-back rights. After the closing of the transaction with LRC, TNR will hold a 1.5% NSR royalty on Mariana, including a 0.15% NSR royalty held on behalf of a shareholder (which represents a 1.35% NSR held by TNR and a 0.15% NSR in favour of the shareholder).
Under the existing buy-back right, 1.0% of the Mariana NSR royalty can be purchased from TNR for aggregate payment of CAN$1,000,000 at any time within 240 days of “Commencement of Commercial Production” as defined in the underlying agreement. The Company would receive CAN$900,000 and its shareholder would receive CAN$100,000 on the completion of a repurchase under the underlying agreement. If such purchase was made, TNR would hold a 0.45% NSR and its shareholder would hold a 0.05% NSR.
Kirill Klip, TNR’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are very pleased that after many months of negotiations, we have successfully closed this transaction and achieved this major milestone for our Company. This is a further validation of TNR Gold’s business model. By monetizing part of our royalty holdings, we are providing an important benchmark for valuations of assets in our royalty portfolio and generating significant capital, while selling to LRC only a portion of our royalty holding on the Mariana Lithium Project. This strategic transaction with LRC allows us to significantly improve our working capital position and strengthen our balance sheet.”
“Representatives of Ganfeng Lithium confirmed to the Governor of Salta Gustavo Sáenz that the Mariana Project, on which construction began last June, will start producing, in 2024, an estimated 20 thousand tons per year of lithium chloride. The Government of Salta has reported on Ganfeng Lithium’s announcement that the operational phase of the Mariana Lithium Project began in January 2023.”
“We believe that our royalty holdings are undervalued and their appropriate values are not reflected in the Company’s share price. This transaction clearly demonstrates it. We have received cash proceeds that were well above the Company’s recent market capitalization. Significant industry interest in our assets has been generated, and the Company is working on potential new strategic partnerships to provide further benchmarks for the market valuations of our royalty holdings.”