Pan American Silver has agreed to sell its 100% stake in La Arena, which owns the La Arena gold mine as well as the La Arena II project in Peru, to Jinteng (Singapore) Mining, a subsidiary of Zijin Mining.
Under the terms of the deal, at closing Zijin will pay US$245 million in cash and will grant Pan American a life-of-mine gold net smelter return royalty of 1.5% for the La Arena II project. The agreement also includes a $50 million contingent payment upon commercial production.
“With the sale of La Arena, we continue to deliver on our strategy to optimize our portfolio, following the Yamana transaction, while maintaining future upside through the retention of royalties,” said Michael Steinmann, president and CEO of Pan American.
“Proceeds from the transaction will further strengthen our financial position and allow us to deliver on our capital allocation priorities of investing in high-quality assets, debt reduction and returning capital to our shareholders.”
Pan American expects the transaction to be completed in the third quarter of 2024.
La Arena is an open-pit, heap leach gold mine producing doré, where exploration success has extended the mine’s life to 2026.
Source: Pan American Silver