The SSR-Royalty Portfolio (the "Portfolio") consists of 16 geographically diverse royalties with precious and base metal assets that spans over 68,000 hectares across Turkey, Canada, U.S., Mexico, and South America. On July 29, 2021 EMX executed an agreement with SSR Mining Inc. (TSX: SSRM, NASDAQ: SSRM) to purchase the Portfolio for $33 million in cash and U.S. $33 million in common shares of EMX. EMX will also make deferred and contingent payments of up to U.S. $34 million to SSR if certain project advancement milestones are achieved (see EMX news release dated July 29, 2021, and October 21, 2021). The Portfolio also includes four projects at advanced stages of development along with $18 million in future cash payments to be made to the owner of the Portfolio.
The portfolio is highlighted by the Gediktepe royalties, which cover assets currently being developed by Lidya Madencilik ("Lidya"), a private Turkish company that expects initial production from Gediktepe in late 2021. These include a 10% NSR royalty on production from an oxide gold-silver deposit and a 2% NSR royalty on underlying polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide ("VMS") mineralization. Yenipazar (Turkey) and Diablillos (Argentina) are additional royalties on advanced stage projects (see summaries below) and the other 14 royalty interests cover both precious metal and base metal assets in South America, Mexico, the United States (Nevada) and Canada.
As summarized in Figure 1 and Table 1, the Royalty Portfolio spans over 69,000 hectares across seven countries on three continents. Summaries for Gediktepe, Yenipazar and Diablillos are provided here.
Table 1: Assets included in the Royalty Portfolio
Advanced and Development Stage Assets
Gediktepe Oxide
10% NSR
Lidya Madencilik
Au-Ag
Gediktepe Sulfide
2% NSR
Cu-Zn-Au-Ag
6% - 10% NPI
Virtus Mining
Au-Ag-Zn-Cu-Pb
Diablillos
AbraSilver Resource
TSX-V:ABRA
Ag-Au
Resource Stage Assets
Berenguela
1.00% - 1.25% NSR
Aftermath Silver
TSX-V:AAG
Mn-Ag-Cu-Zn
Challacollo
San Marcial
0.75% NSR
GR Silver
TSX-V:GRSL
Ag-Zn-Pb
Tartan Lake
Satori Resources
TSX.V:BUD
Exploration Stage Assets
Brooks Property
Nevada Gold Mines
Barrick Gold Corp and Newmont Corp J.V.
E&L Nickel Mountain
Garibaldi Resources
TSX-V:GGI
Ni-Cu
El Mogote
Industrias Peñoles
BMV(Mexico):PE&OLES
Hunter 1-12
2.5% NSR
Cassiar Gold Corp
TSX-V:GLDC
Juncal and La Flora
Austral Gold
TSX-V:AGLD-ASX:AGD
M18/Aguas Perdidas
San Agustin Sulfides
Argonaut Gold
TSX:AR
International Millennium
TSX-V:MSC
Future Cash Payments (payable by operator to royalty holder)
Timing/Trigger of Payment
U.S. $7.00 million
Payable upon earlier of (i) commencement of commercial production or (ii) July 31, 2025
Payable upon First Anniversary of Initial Closing Date of Berenguela royalty agreement
Payable upon Second Anniversary of Initial Closing Date of Berenguela royalty agreement
Payable upon Fourth Anniversary of Initial Closing Date of Berenguela royalty agreement
Payable upon Final Closing Date of Berenguela royalty agreement (November 30, 2026)
Gediktepe VMS Deposit, Western Turkey: The Gediktepe VMS deposit was discovered by a Joint Venture ("JV") initiative between Alacer Gold Corp. ("Alacer") and Lidya in 2012-2013 and was quickly advanced to PEA (2014) and Prefeasibility stages (2016). The deposit is comprised of a polymetallic VMS system with precious metal, copper, and zinc rich domains. The upper portion of the deposit is oxidized, forming a precious metal-enriched gossanous cap that will be mined first, followed by production from the underlying polymetallic sulfide deposit. Operator Lydia has commenced development and construction of the project and is anticipating commercial production to commence in late 2021.
Alacer, the previous owner of the Gediktepe royalties, was acquired by SSR in September of 2020. The Gediktepe Royalties consist of: (i) a perpetual 10% NSR royalty over metals produced from the oxide zone (predominantly gold and silver) after cumulative production of 10,000 gold-equivalent oxide ounces; and (ii) a perpetual 2% NSR royalty over metals produced from the sulfide zone (predominantly copper, zinc, lead, silver, and gold), payable after cumulative production of 25,000 gold-equivalent sulfide ounces.
The Gediktepe property is the subject of an NI 43-101 pre-feasibility study entitled "Gediktepe 2019 Prefeasibility Study" prepared by OreWin Pty Ltd. on behalf of Alacer with an effective date of Mar. 26, 2019 (the "Gediktepe Report"). The 2019 Gediktepe Report contains historical mining reserve and resource estimates (see EMX news release dated July 29, 2021 for a summary of the resource estimates).
Yenipazar VMS Deposit, Central Turkey: The Yenipazar polymetallic VMS deposit was discovered in the late 1990's by YAMAS, a predecessor of Alacer and SSR. Aldridge Minerals Inc. ("Aldridge"), a public Canadian corporation formerly listed on the TSX-V, formed a JV with Alacer in 2004 with the right to earn a majority interest in the project. Later modifications to the JV agreement in 2006 led to Aldridge acquiring a 100% project equity interest, with Alacer retaining an NPI royalty that is set at 6% until U.S. $165 million in revenues are received by the royalty holder, after which the NPI converts to a 10% interest.
Aldridge delivered a feasibility study in 2013 that was updated in 2014 before Aldridge encountered financial difficulties. Ultimately, Aldridge (and Yenipazar) were sold to a new private company (Virtus Madencilik) headed by Aldridge's major shareholder, Ahmet Taçyildiz. Trafigura Ventures V B.V. also owns a 30% interest in Virtus. Virtus recently updated the feasibility study for Yenipazar and is currently seeking project financing for development of the project.
Diablillos Gold-Silver Epithermal deposit, Argentina:Diablillos is a 7,900-hectare property located in the mining friendly Province of Salta in the Argentine Puna region. There are currently seven known mineralized zones on the Diablillos property, with the Oculto zone being the most important and the most explored. Oculto is a deeply oxidised, high-sulfidation epithermal silver-gold deposit.
Operator AbraSilver Resource Corp. (TSX-V: ABRA, "AbraSilver") has an option to acquire 100% of the Diablillos property, with one outstanding payment due in 2025. A 2018 PEA reported historical Indicated Resources at Oculto of 26.85 million tonnes grading 93g/t silver and 0.85g/t gold, for 80.3 million ounces of contained silver and 732 thousand ounces of contained gold1. Preliminary metallurgical tests indicate high recoveries from a crushing, grinding and agitated leach plant with a Merrill-Crowe circuit. High-grade copper intercepts have been discovered at depth and may suggest deeper porphyry-style potential.
AbraSilver continues to drill Oculto as well as advancing other targets on the property. An updated PEA is expected in Q3 2021, with a feasibility study slated for 2022.
1As reported in Technical Report on the Diablillos Project, Salta Province, Argentina, prepared by Roscoe Postle Associates (RPA) and filed on SEDAR by AbraPlata Resource Corporation with an effective date of April 16, 2018. Mineral Resources were reported to CIM guidelines and definitions. The resources were estimated using Ordinary Kriging within grade shell domains and reported within an optimized pit based upon metal prices of $1500/oz gold and $23/oz silver and variably calculated recoveries (refer to the technical report for details).
Other 14 Royalties
The other 14 royalty interests cover both precious and base metal assets in South America (Argentina, Chile, and Peru), Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. Table 1, summarizes all the assets included in the SSR Royalty Portfolio.