Royal Gold strikes deal with Centerra Gold to boost mine life of Mount Milligan

Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD) announced on Wednesday that its subsidiary, RGLD Gold AG, has executed a deal with Centerra Gold (XTSE: CG) and its unit Thompson Creek Metals to extend the mine life of Mount Milligan to 2035.

The mine, owned by Centerra Gold, provides near-term cash and gold consideration to Royal Gold in return for long-term cost support.

Royal Gold will receive around $125 million in near-term consideration, comprising $24.5 million in cash and 50,000 oz. of gold, along with a long-term free cash flow interest in the Mount Milligan mine.

Starting in approximately 2030, Royal Gold will provide cost support payments for metal deliveries, which will serve as the basis for an immediate reserve increase and extension of the Mount Milligan mine life to 2035.

“Mount Milligan is a large and potentially long-life operation, and our support is designed to allow Centerra to extend the mine life and add long-term value for each company’s stakeholders,” said Bill Heissenbuttel, CEO of Royal Gold.

Centerra expects to complete a preliminary economic assessment in the first half of 2025 to evaluate a mine life extension beyond 2035.

Mount Milligan is located approximately 155 km northwest of Prince George in central British Columbia. It is a conventional truck-and-shovel open pit copper and gold mine and concentrator with a 60,000 t/d capacity copper flotation processing plant. The mine produced 154,391 oz. of gold in 2023.

On Wednesday, Centerra announced preliminary production of gold in the final three months of last year was 129,259 ounces, up from 126,221 the quarter before. That took output for last year to 350,317 ounces, toward the midpoint of Centerra’s guidance range of 340,000 to 360,000 ounces.

The Canadian gold producer, which also operates the Oksut mine in Turkey, forecast gold production of between 370,000 and 410,000 oz. in 2024, marking an increase of 11% at the midpoint of its guidance.

Copper output is set to come in at between 55 million and 65 million lb., it said.

Shares of Royal Gold rose 0.7% by 11:30 p.m. EDT. The miner has a market capitalization of $7 billion. Centerra shares were up 6%. The company has a market cap of $770 million.

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MINING.COM