Mexico’s proposed higher mining royalties could block nearly $7bn in investments
The Mexican government proposed raising mining royalties under the argument that metal prices have risen in recent years.
Perseus Mining (ASX, TSX: PRU) has divested its equity stake in Canada’s Montage Gold (TSXV: MAU), selling 33 million common shares at C$1.86 apiece, near its current market price, for net proceeds of C$61.38 million ($45 million).
The cash injection, according to the Africa-focused gold developer, would help strengthen its balance sheet following the recent purchase of a strategic stake in Australia’s Predictive Discovery (ASX: PDI), owner of the Bankan gold project in Guinea, for A$86 million ($57.9 million).
The shareholding in Montage, representing 9.6% of those outstanding, was considered by Perseus to be non-core, the company said in an Aug. 21 news release.
Montage currently holds the advanced-stage Koné project in Côte d’Ivoire. An updated feasibility study this year highlighted a 16-year low-cost gold operation capable of producing 300,000 oz. per year through the first eight years. Its life-of-mine all-in sustaining cost is estimated at $998/oz.
Perseus acquired the Montage common shares in May of 2022 through its acquisition of Orca Gold, whose principal asset was a 70% interest in the Block 14 project (since renamed Meyas Sands project) in Sudan.
“We are very pleased to have successfully completed the sale of the Montage shareholding at a price that will largely offset the cost of our recent acquisition of a strategic stake in Predictive’s Bankan gold project in Guinea, which we believe is a potentially attractive gold development project,” Perseus CEO Jeff Quartermaine said.
Backed by US investment firm Blackrock, Predictive is moving the Bankan project towards the development phase, with an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) and a pre-feasibility study (PFS) completed in April 2024. The PFS outlined an initial gold reserve of over 3 million oz., with average production of 269,000 oz. per annum over a 12-year mine life.
Perseus currently operates three gold mines in Africa: Edikan in Ghana, and Sissingué and Yaouré in Côte d’Ivoire. Together, these mines produced 509,977 oz. in the 2024 fiscal year.
