Silver Wheaton buys $1.9 billion of Vale gold

MINING.com Editor | February 6, 2013 | 3:00 pm Precious Metals Canada Latin America Gold 
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Silver Wheaton Corp. (SLW) will pay US$1.90 billion for gold streams from two Vale SA (Vale) subsidiaries.

The company will pay US$1.33 billion for 25% of the gold production from Vale’s Salobo Mine, located in Brazil, and another US$570 million for 70% of the gold production for 20 years from certain Sudbury Mines located in Canada.

With mining companies facing difficult market conditions currently, opportunities are knocking for royalty and streaming companies. Silver Wheaton CEO Randy Smallwood has been impressed not only with the size of recent streaming deals but also the quality of the assets on offer.

The deal is being hailed as a pioneer effort, one which will open the door for other streaming companies to gain increased access to assets of the global mining majors.

  • The deal is the largest ever by a metals streaming company.
  • The gold streams will provide cash flow to Silver Wheaton and further expansion potential exists with both subsidiaries.
  • The deal will increase the percentage of Silver Wheaton gold-generated revenue from roughly 12% – 25%.

 

To read Silver Wheaton’s February 5 press release in full, click here

 

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