Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
Equinox Gold (TSX, NYSE: EQX) announced on Tuesday that it has sold 11 million common shares of Solaris Resources (TSX: SLS) for C$70.4 million ($51.6m), decreasing its ownership to less than 10% of the issued and outstanding common shares.
Prior to the transaction, Equinox Gold owned 15,545,487 common shares of Solaris and warrants entitling Equinox to purchase 7,500,000 common shares of Solaris representing approximately 17.88% of Solaris on a partially diluted basis.
Equinox Gold has also ceased to be a “reporting insider” as defined in National Instrument 55-104 insider reporting requirements.
Solaris Resources’ flagship asset is its Warintza copper-gold project in Ecuador. It also has projects in Peru and Chile, and holds a 60% ownership in the development-stage La Verde copper project in Mexico in a joint venture with Teck Resources.
Equinox has seven operating gold mines in the US, Mexico and Brazil, and a multi-million-ounce growth project, Greenstone, in Ontario, Canada.
In the statement, Equinox said it remains a supportive shareholder of Solaris and does not currently plan to make any additional changes to its interest, and that it has agreed not to sell any of its remaining Solaris securities for 120 days.
Midday Wednesday, Equinox Gold’s stock was up 5.6% in Toronto, while Solaris was down 2.8%.
