(All dollar amounts are in United States dollars unless otherwise
indicated)
TSXV: MTA
OTCQX: MTAFF
Frankfurt: X9CP
VANCOUVER, Feb. 4, 2019 /CNW/ - Metalla Royalty
& Streaming Ltd. ("Metalla" or the
"Company") (TSXV: MTA) (OTCQX: MTAFF) (FRANKFURT: X9CP) is
pleased to announce that the Company has entered into a purchase
and sale agreement (the "Royalty Purchase Agreement") to
acquire from a third party (the "Seller") a 1.0% NSR
royalty on Atlantic Gold Corporation's ("Atlantic Gold")
(TSXV: AGB) Fifteen Mile Stream project (the "Royalty") for
$4,000,000 (the "Royalty
Transaction"). The purchase price will be satisfied by an
upfront payment of $2,200,000 in cash
and 2,619,000 common shares of the Company (the "Consideration
Shares"). The Royalty is in connection with two claims formally
held by the Seller which covers the Egerton-Maclean, Hudson, 149
East Zone, and the majority of the Plenty deposit which
collectively comprise the Fifteen Mile Stream project ("FMS
Project") located in Nova Scotia,
Canada. The Royalty covers all products mined or otherwise
recovered from the Project.
Brett Heath, President, and CEO
of Metalla commented, "Metalla is pleased to add another
high-quality royalty on a growing deposit in Eastern Canada with emerging mid-tier operator
Atlantic Gold. Fifteen Mile Stream
represents the next leg in the growth at the Moose River
Consolidated Gold Mine which has undergone extensive drilling aimed
at expanding the resource." Mr. Heath continued, "Atlantic Gold has
quickly established itself as one of Canada's premier operators through the
successful commissioning of Moose River on time and within budget.
This transaction is consistent with our long-stated strategy of
acquiring existing royalties on quality assets with strong
operators."
FIFTEEN MILE STREAM
Fifteen Mile Stream is a gold
project located 57km northeast of Atlantic Gold's central milling
facility at Touquoy and is readily accessible by highway. The
project lies along the same geological trend as other related
deposits – Touquoy, Beaver Dam and
Cochrane Hill – and all are hosted
within the same critical stratigraphy and structure, over a strike
length of 80 km. The FMS Project is 100% owned by Atlantic Gold and
is being developed as part of their multi-phase mine plan that was
outlined in a pre-feasibility report disclosed on January 24, 2018 (see technical report titled
"Moose River Consolidated Project, Nova Scotia, Canada NI 43-101
Technical Report on Moose River Consolidated Phase 1 and Phase 2
Expansion" dated January 24, 2018 and
filed on Atlantic Gold's SEDAR profile, referred to herein as the
"Technical Report"). The plan stipulates that following the
commissioning of the Touquoy mine and mill, the FMS Project is to
be put into production in 2021 for a total cost of C$123 million. The FMS Project will produce a
concentrate that will be trucked and processed at the central
milling facility at Touquoy. After the Technical Report was filed,
Atlantic Gold declared commercial production at Touquoy effective
on March 1, 2018 as a result of a
successful ramp-up of mine and milling facilities at Touquoy on
time and within budget.
According to Atlantic Gold, the FMS Project is expected to
produce approximately 80,000 ounces of gold in 2021 in its first
year of production. Highlights of the life of mine plan at the FMS
Project are for a 5-year mine life which will recover a total of
391,000 ounces of gold at a cash cost of C$561/Oz and generate a 60.9% pre-tax IRR (see
the link to Atlantic Golds' press release dated January 29th, 2018)
1.
The Technical Report discloses the following mineral reserve and
resource estimate on the FMS Project :
Reserves
|
Tonnes
|
Au
grade
|
Gold
|
|
(kt)
|
(g/t)
|
(koz)
|
Proven
|
2,890
|
1.25
|
116
|
Probable
|
7,910
|
1.24
|
316
|
Proven &
Probable
|
10,800
|
1.24
|
432
|
Resources
|
Tonnes
|
Au
grade
|
Gold
|
|
(kt)
|
(g/t)
|
(koz)
|
Measured
|
2,710
|
1.33
|
116
|
Indicated
|
7,880
|
1.33
|
336
|
Measured &
Indicated
|
10,590
|
1.33
|
452
|
Inferred
|
6,640
|
1.12
|
240
|
Mineral Resources
have an effective date of July 20, 2017, and Mineral Reserves have
an
effective date of January 24, 2018. Atlantic Gold discloses Mineral
Resources that are
reported inclusive of those Mineral Resources that have been
converted to Mineral Reserves.
Mineral Resources which are not Mineral Reserves do not have
demonstrated economic viability
|
Since Atlantic Gold completed the resource and reserve estimate,
they have drilled an additional 290 holes spanning over 35,000
meters at the FMS Project which will be included in an updated
resource estimate expected to be released in the first half of
2019.
ROYALTY PURCHASE AGREEMENT
Pursuant to the Royalty Purchase Agreement, Metalla and the
Seller will enter into an assignment and assumption agreement under
which the Royalty will be transferred from the Seller to Metalla.
Metalla expects to close the purchase of the Royalty on or about
February 12, 2019 and closing of the
Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including
receiving TSX Venture Exchange approval. The Seller also agreed to
transfer restrictions by providing the Company with a right to
place the Consideration Shares in the event the Seller wishes to
sell 1.0% or more of the Consideration Shares issuable to them.
The Consideration Shares issued to the Seller will be subject to
a statutory four-month hold period from the date of their issuance.
The agreement was negotiated at arm's length between Metalla and
the Seller. No brokerage or finder's fees were paid in association
with the acquisition of the Royalty.
QUALIFIED PERSON
The technical information contained in this news release has
been reviewed and approved by Charles
Beaudry, geologist M.Sc., member of the Association of
Professional Geoscientists of Ontario and the Ordre des Géologues du Québec
and a consultant to Metalla. Mr. Beaudry is a Qualified Person
as defined in "National Instrument 43-101 Standards of
disclosure for mineral projects".
ABOUT METALLA
Metalla is a precious metals royalty and streaming company.
Metalla provides shareholders with leveraged precious metal
exposure through a diversified and growing portfolio of royalties
and streams. Our strong foundation of current and future
cash-generating asset base, combined with an experienced team gives
Metalla a path to become one of the leading gold and silver
companies for the next commodities cycle.
For further information, please visit our website at
www.metallaroyalty.com
ON BEHALF OF METALLA ROYALTY & STREAMING LTD.
(signed) "Brett Heath"
President and CEO
Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accept
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Technical and Third-Party Information
Note 1 – The disclosure herein and relating to the Fifteen
Mile Stream Property is based on information prepared and disclosed
by Atlantic Gold Corporation and can be found in a news release
filed on SEDAR by Atlantic Gold on March 15,
2018 and a technical report titled " Moose River
Consolidated Project, Nova Scotia, Canada NI 43-101 Technical
Report on Moose River Consolidated Phase 1 and Phase 2 Expansion"
dated January 24, 2018 filed on
SEDAR. The information and data are available in the public
domain as at the date hereof, and none of this information has been
independently verified by the Company or is supported by a
technical report prepared in accordance with National Instrument
43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. While
the Company will request additional information from Atlantic Gold
once the Royalty Transaction is completed, it has not received
access to the necessary data from Atlantic Gold and is not able to
obtain the necessary information from the public domain to prepare
a technical report and Atlantic Gold has not indicated the mineral
resource and/or mineral reserve category, if any, on which the
information above is based. Mineral resources are not mineral
reserves and by definition do not demonstrate economic viability.
The Fifteen Mile Stream production contained herein may be based on
mineral resource estimates that include inferred mineral resources,
which are considered too speculative geologically to have economic
considerations applied to them that would enable them to be
categorized as mineral reserves. There is also no certainty
that inferred mineral resources, if used by Atlantic Gold in
preparing the production forecast, will be converted to the
measured and indicated resource categories, or into mineral
reserves, once economic considerations are applied. Readers are
cautioned that inferred resources have a great amount of
uncertainty as to their existence and as to whether they can be
mined economically. As a result, the Company cautions readers
that there is no certainty that the projected gold production will
be realized. Specifically, as a royalty holder, the Company has
limited, if any, access to the Fifteen Mile Stream Property. This
news release also contains future-oriented financial information
and financial outlook information (collectively, "FOFI")
about the projected gold production from the Company's royalty on
the Fifteen Mile Stream Property which is subject to the same
assumptions, risk factors, limitations and qualifications as set
forth in the below paragraphs. FOFI contained in this news release
was made as of the date of this news release and was provided for
the purpose of providing further information about Metalla's
anticipated future business operations. Metalla disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise any FOFI contained in
this press release, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise unless required pursuant to applicable law.
FOFI contained in this news release should not be used for purposes
other than for which it is disclosed herein. Such future-oriented
production information is provided for the purpose of providing
information about management's current expectations and plans
relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such outlook or
information should not be used for purposes other than for which it
is disclosed in this news release.
The Company is dependent on, (i) Atlantic Gold and their
qualified persons to provide information to the Company, or (ii) on
publicly available information to prepare disclosure pertaining to
the Fifteen Mile Stream Property and generally has limited or no
ability to independently verify such information. Although the
Company does not have any knowledge that such information may not
be accurate, there can be no assurance that such third party
information is complete or accurate. The disclosure in this
press release relating to the Fifteen Mile Stream Property is based
on information publicly disclosed by the owner or operator of this
property and information/data available in the public domain as at
the date hereof, and none of this information has been
independently verified by Metalla. Specifically, as a royalty
holder, Metalla has and will have limited, if any, access to the
property subject to the Royalty. Although Metalla does not have any
knowledge that such information may not be accurate, there can be
no assurance that such third-party information is complete or
accurate. Some information publicly reported by the operator may
relate to a larger property than the area covered by Metalla's
royalty interest. Metalla's royalty interests often cover less than
100% and sometimes only a portion of the publicly reported mineral
reserves, mineral resources and production of a property.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking information" and
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable
Canadian and U.S. securities legislation. The forward-looking
statements herein are made as of the date of this press release
only, and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or
revise them to reflect new information, estimates or opinions,
future events or results or otherwise, except as required by
applicable law.
Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is
expected", "budgets", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts",
"predicts", "projects", "intends", "targets", "aims", "anticipates"
or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such
words and phrases or may be identified by statements to the effect
that certain actions "may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or
"will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements
and information include, but are not limited to, statements with
respect to the transactions contemplated under the Royalty Purchase
Agreement, anticipated cash flows and production upon completion of
the Royalty Transaction, the completion of the Royalty Transaction,
and proposed future transactions Metalla may undertake and their
expected timing. Forward-looking statements and information are
based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet
determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to
be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business,
economic and competitive uncertainties, and
contingencies. Forward-looking statements and information are
subject to various known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many
of which are beyond the ability of Metalla to control or predict,
that may cause Metalla's actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from those expressed or
implied thereby, and are developed based on assumptions about such
risks, uncertainties and other factors set out herein, including
but not limited to: the requirement for regulatory approvals and
third party consents, the impact of general business and economic
conditions, the absence of control over the mining operations from
which Metalla will purchase gold and receive royalties, including
risks related to international operations, government relations and
environmental regulation, the inherent risks involved in the
exploration and development of mineral properties; the
uncertainties involved in interpreting exploration data; the
potential for delays in exploration or development activities; the
geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; the possibility
that future exploration, development or mining results will not be
consistent with Metalla's expectations; accidents, equipment
breakdowns, title matters, labor disputes or other unanticipated
difficulties or interruptions in operations; fluctuating metal
prices; unanticipated costs and expenses; uncertainties relating to
the availability and costs of financing needed in the future; the
inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the
potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price
fluctuations; currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions,
including environmental regulatory restrictions; liability,
competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and
uncertainties. Metalla undertakes no obligation to update
forward-looking information except as required by applicable law.
Such forward-looking information represents management's best
judgment based on information currently available. No
forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual future
results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not
to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or
information. Some of the disclosure in this press release is based
on information publicly disclosed by the owners or operators of
these properties and information/data available in the public
domain as at the date hereof, and none of this information has been
independently verified by Metalla.
Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking
statements made in this press release are qualified by these
cautionary statements.
SOURCE Metalla Royalty and Streaming Ltd.