Wheaton acquires gold stream from Capstone’s Santo Domingo project

Capstone Mining’s Santo Domingo iron oxide-copper-gold project in Chile’s Atacama region, 130 km northeast of Copiapo in 2014. Credit: Capstone Mining.

Wheaton Precious Metals has entered into a definitive Precious Metal Purchase Agreement with Capstone Mining over the Santo Domingo project located in the Atacama desert in Chile.

The company will purchase 100% of the payable gold production until 285 thousand ounces have been delivered, thereafter dropping to 67% of payable gold production for the life of the mine.

Wheaton will pay Capstone a total upfront cash consideration of $290 million.  

“Santo Domingo is an exceptional project that provides Wheaton with an additional near-term growth opportunity. The project is forecast to be a first-quartile copper producer with a long mine life, making it an ideal fit for Wheaton’s existing high-quality portfolio,” Randy Smallwood, Wheaton’s CEO said in a press release.

Attributable gold production is forecast to average 35 to 40 koz per year for the first five full years of production and 25 to 30 koz for the first ten full years.

Capstone expects major construction to commence in late 2021 with the first full year of production forecast for 2024.