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Base Metals Breaking Energy Exclusive Interviews Junior Mining Precious Metals Project Generators Uncategorized

VOX Royalty – Massive Portfolio Consisting of 8,000 Royalties

Maurice Jackson:

Joining us for conversation is Kyle Floyd, the CEO and Chairman of Vox Royalty (TSX.V: VOX | OTCQX: VOXCF). Sir, it’s a pleasure to speak with you today, as we deep dive into the value proposition of Vox Royalty, which offers a smart way to invest in commodities. Before we begin, Mr. Floyd, please introduce us to Vox Royalty and the opportunity the company presents to shareholders.

Kyle Floyd:

Vox Royalty Corp has been around since 2014. Our business model focuses on buying third-party royalties, which we believe is the most value-enhancing way to play the commodity sector. And so, we have built what is the fastest-growing royalty company on the planet. We also believe one of the royalty companies trading at the most attractive valuations, and we have a management team and business entirely engaged and finding deep value by buying these third-party royalties all around the world.  And we’ve been very, very successful in building Vox Royalty for our investors over the last eight years.

Maurice Jackson:

Before we take a step forward, let’s take a step back. What are some of the merits of royalty companies for shareholders?

Kyle Floyd:

Well, royalty companies offer a better risk-adjusted way to play commodity exposure. And there are a couple of key reasons for that. Royalties typically are revenue interests essentially that run with the mining assets. And so you take a top-line percentage interest in these projects. You’re not exposed to a lot of the costs and the risks that these mining companies face, which can be quite significant. If there’s a cost overrun, the royalty company gets to continue to generate its revenue from the project without having to fund any of the projects or being diluted. If that underlying entity needs to raise capital.

The other costs that the mining that the roads and conveys are not associated with the mining companies face are the general input costs, the variable cost structure, whether it’s for fuel people, you name it, all the inputs that go into mining companies, all those costs are increasing and royalty companies are exposed to that.

The other benefit, then, on the upside is there’s a lot of diversification you get from royalty companies. Vox Royalty has 5 production stage assets going to 10 production stage assets and beyond means that we’re diversified across a suite of assets. And so we don’t have single asset risks that you have in a lot of mining companies. So a lot less risk, but a lot of the same upside, if not better upside that you realize in mining companies in the form of metal prices going up helps increase the value of royalty companies, increase in production, increases in reserves, increasing resources. All of that goes to fuel royalty company growth. And we’re not on the hook for any of those costs in terms of building out those assets further. So that’s a quick synopsis on why we’re so bullish on royalties and we believe that’s backed up in the market as well to companies that outperform for the better part of the last two decades.

Maurice Jackson:

One of the virtues of royalty companies, several embedded optionality. And speaking of royalties, to truly appreciate the value proposition of Vox Royalty, Mr. Floyd, what is a royalty juxtaposed to a stream? We hear those terms often, but they get co-mingled, but they’re not the same.

Kyle Floyd:

That’s a great question. Royalties are these third-party interests. So, interest not held by the operating party of the mining company, they’re the prospector or the junior mining company or the family that owned a ranch that sold the asset eventually to the mining company and typically retained a royalty, which was that right in the upside of revenue generated for these mines typically for the life of those mines. A stream is a structure where you’re typically financing a mining company, and the counterparty is the mining company. You’re giving them capital and in return, you are taking a percentage of a certain metal that’s generated from that opportunity.

And you’re continuing to remit payments to get that metal over the life or over the term of that commercial arrangement. The big difference is typically on streams. You’re giving money to a mining company, so you need them to meet capital versus our royalty model. We’re not giving money to the mining company. We’re purchasing a right held by a third party. And typically those are non-core assets for these groups. Therefore, we’re not restricted by mining companies needing capital to find really interesting deals for our investors.

Maurice Jackson:

Now that we have a better understanding of the merits of royalty companies, Mr. Floyd, what differentiates Vox Royalty?

Kyle Floyd:

There are a few things that differentiate Vox Royalty and we built a business model to be differentiated, to offer better risk-adjusted exposure for investors. And one of the key differentiators is we focus exclusively on buying third-party royalties. We don’t compete at the big end of town trying to finance multi-billion dollar projects with streams. Our niche is finding third-party royalties all over the globe. We have a database that has 8,000 proprietary royalties that provide us a roadmap for finding great royalties in jurisdictions that range from West Africa to Australia, to North America, to South America. And we use a technical team made up of mining engineers and geologists that help screen for good projects that have these amazing royalties over them. And then we connect with these owners of these projects, with our deal sourcing agents all around the world to be able to transact on these opportunities.

Vox Royalty built this ecosystem, this business model around finding third-party royalties, where we think the best value is generated. And if you look at the historical returns of the Franco’s and the Royals, that’s where they’ve generated the best returns, buying these third party royalties, much less the streams and the financing of mining companies that have been completed over the last decade. That being said, they performed very, very well overall. And so that is our business model. Third-party royalties finding amazing assets with great royalties over them, all around the world. And those three kind of key pillars of that stool, the deal sourcing agent network that I think goes farther than probably anybody in our range, the technical team, and intellectual property in the form of a database. And all those combined to make us what has been the fastest-growing royalty company. And I believe also at the best value over the last three years.

Maurice Jackson:

Speaking of the database, Vox Royalty owns one of the world’s largest proprietary royalty databases, consisting of over 8,000,  most of which are located in Australia, Canada, and the USA. Mr. Floyd, please introduce us to Vox Royalties property bank.

Kyle Floyd:

It’s a very exciting asset for us, and it’s a huge competitive advantage. Our database has been built over the better part of the last 10 years. Vox was building our database and building our intellectual property. But one of the things that we were acutely aware of is there was the potential that someone was farther ahead of us in terms of this effort to build out proprietary advantages in finding third-party royalties. And sure enough, there was a company that was farther ahead, and that was a company called Mineral Royalties Online.

So they had, at that time, it was a database of 7,000 third-party royalties in their database, all around the world. They had built this database bottoms-up through first principles and first-party data. They went into different mining ministries and exploration offices all around the world and made deals to essentially get this hard copy data and then translate that into data that was online. And so we purchased that database in 2019, that has underpinned a lot of our success and our growth rate. And so that database gives us an edge all around the globe in terms of finding these third-party royalties and being able to transact and closes and bring those into the portfolio.

Maurice Jackson:

I see that Vox has undertaken a keen interest in Australia. Why Australia?

Kyle Floyd:

Well, there’s not just one reason for Australia. There’s a lot of reasons for us in Australia. Australia is, and we’re slightly biased, but it’s also backed up by a lot of the third-party rating agencies, is one of the best, if not the best, mining jurisdictions on the planet. According to the Fraser Institute, Western Australia, which is home to most of our royalties, is the best mining jurisdiction. Investors understand the value of Nevada royalties because Australia is a better mining jurisdiction, in our opinion. We believe Australia is the place that you want to have significant exposure to, complimented by our IP, which has a very strong basis in Australian royalties, and technical team, three of our four key Business Development Executives are also Australian citizens. We understand what we believe is the best major mining market, as well as anybody, if not better than anybody else.

We’ve accumulated what is now the second-largest holding of hard rock mining royalties in Australia. And that’s significant because Australia, beyond just being a fundamentally great jurisdiction with great golden endowments, it has had a very buoyant gold price in Aussie dollar terms. It’s been trading at almost all-time high prices in Aussie dollars for the last almost four years. And so what’s happened is a lot of the exploration development projects that we forecasted would do well have exceeded expectations because the buoyant equity markets have allowed these companies to raise as much capital as needed to advance these projects. And so it’s been a huge boon to our business in terms of the growth of assets already in the portfolio, and having them grow ahead of expectations and realizing tremendous value for our investors. And so, us picking Australia as a place to focus on has paid off for our shareholders.

Maurice Jackson:

Sounds quite intriguing. Now within the property bank, Vox Royalty has producing assets and a pipeline of growth assets. Sir, please acquaint us with your top three key producing assets beginning in Australia.

Kyle Floyd:

This year we acquired the Janet Ivy, and we were engaged on it before it goes back into production. It’s now in production, but it has a huge expansion plan ahead of it, which we expect to take place late next year and that’ll make it a very, very significant cash flow for us. We also have the Koolyanobbing Royalty, which we bought from a telecom business, If you can believe that. It was held in one of their subsidiaries for a very long time, and we’re engaged on a pre at going into production.

That’s had a huge run and huge growth, obviously with the iron ore up in prices. And then we also have a host of other royalties that are in production, Coure Resources, Higginsville operations. We have three open-pits that feed that mill. And so that’s been running at a record pace for us. And then one that we’re excited about is the Segiolola Project that we bought pre-production. It is the highest-grade open-pit gold project in West Africa, and they just announced the first gold pour. So we expect to see revenue from that asset in Q4. So really a tremendous amount of growth in our portfolio from producing and production stage assets.

Maurice Jackson:

We’ve covered the key producing assets. Sir, please introduce us to the growth assets of your property bank.

Kyle Floyd:

I could go on for days about our growth assets. I’ve got to work hard to kind of narrow it down for the readers. I’ll name a couple that I’m excited about. The Ashburton is one. When we bought that royalty, which was in the portfolio of Northern Star. It was a little bit sleepy, but we saw a huge potential in the asset. And what we believed would eventually happen was that other Northern Star would start upping the development curve on this and the timeline on it, or it would transact to a more nimble junior. And sure enough, that happened just a few months after the acquisition of this royalty. The Ashburton is a 1.65 million-ounce gold resource in Western Australia. It’s owned by Calamos Resources now. They’ve got 12,000 meters of drilling going on and their target is three plus million ounces for this asset. So that’s a really exciting NSR royalty for us.

The other one that I’m excited about is The Bowdens Project, which is the largest developing primary silver project in all of Australia. It’s got great fundamentals. The Bowdens Project is an open-pit that’s now exploring the very strong potential to go underground either after the open-pit is exhausted or contemporaneous with open-pit mining. And that is a royalty that has a very multi-decade mine life potential. So those are a couple of the key development stage assets that we’re excited about.

We also have a host of royalties that are going to be coming into production in the very near term. The Pitombeiras is a Vanadium Project in Brazil that they are expecting to come into production in the first half of next year. The Bulong Gold Project is a development stage, production stage asset that’s expected to go into production in mid, next year, over Western Australia Gold Project. And then there’s many more that we can get into without belaboring the point that we have a tremendous amount of growth assets. We have 20 plus development-stage assets, many of which are aggressively moving forward. So it’s a fantastic portfolio of assets with real growth in front of it that’s being delivered to the market every quarter. And that’s increasing value for shareholders.

Maurice Jackson:

Realizing this is a forward-looking statement. We’re going to get into some members later in this discussion, but how much revenue potential is before us under the current market conditions, if we combine the producing and the growth assets?

Kyle Floyd:

And it’s very much a forward-looking statement. I would caution on that. We’ve done a fantastic job of finding royalties 3 to 24 months out before production, where we find the really good value we’re able to bring in those assets that are good fits within our portfolio. We take away the risk from the disparate holders of these third-party royalties all around the world on their non-core assets. So there’s risk asymmetry. They fit better in our portfolio. They don’t fit as one-off assets. And so we’re able to find really good value all around the world, finding these near-production assets. We came out and I think we’ve validated that business over the last 12, 18 months. We recently doubled revenue guidance. We’ll probably talk about that more, but that’s really on the basis that we’re finding these royalties pre-production and then allowing them the time. And usually, it’s not a very long time to go to get into production.

And so when we step out and look at our portfolio, I believe that there’s $15 to $20 million of long-life revenue potential in the portfolios. There’s reason for tremendous upside on that number as well. And that there are 15, 20 exploration stage assets. Some that are generating bonanza grade drill hits are increasing the possibility that those are going to become mines. So very active exploration projects that would kind of fuel growth on top of that. But I believe it’s one of the most undervalued royalty portfolios out there as very strong potential to generate that type of cash flow over the medium and long term. But again, I caution that it was a forward-looking statement. Those are numbers based on operator guidance. They’re based on the technical engineering studies that, that coincide with these assets. But we feel very good about the revenue-generating capability of this portfolio.

Maurice Jackson:

Now germane to revenue, how do mergers and acquisitions impact your portfolio?

Kyle Floyd:

Vox Royalty has a very disciplined approach to acquisitions. We have not the best of our knowledge have not won a single royalty in a sales process. Most royalty companies, in fact, almost all royalty companies, have been growing their business by winning sales processes. So that’s royalties that are being shopped by investment banks and they’re paying top dollar pretty much in every scenario to bring those royalties in the portfolio. What we do is we’ve built a business around finding, these third-party royalties, and disparate shareholders all around the world where these are non-core assets. And so we’ve been able to transact it a really good value. We’re very disciplined on what good value looks like. It has to be accretive across kind of three different key metrics: absolute return on investment basis, relative net asset value, and relative cash flow multiples. Most royalty companies cannot stack up to what Vox is accomplishing in terms of acquisition that’s bringing in across those three metrics. Usually, one, if not two, if not all, three of those metrics break down when other royalty companies are purchasing third-party royalties like we are.

Maurice Jackson:

Now, before we leave the property bank. The multilayered question, what is the next unanswered question for Vox Royalty? When can we expect a response and what will determine success?

Kyle Floyd:

Well, the next step for Vox is we continue to invest in our loyalty database. We will continue to build on that competitive advantage. It’s fueled a lot of our growth and given us a huge leg up on the competition. So we continue to invest in that asset for us, we continue to expand our relationships around the globe. We are finding interesting royalties from Australia to South America, to West Africa and everywhere, pretty much in between. And so, from Vox and what you’ll continue to see on us is expanding on that competitive advantage, expanding on the capability to find really good value for our investors on really exciting projects, where our mining engineers and our geologists understand the quality of those assets so that your readers and the generalist audience out there does not have to do that work. And I think that’s a big advantage that we present for investors is this competitive advantage, that’s good to find a good value.

Maurice Jackson:

Leaving the property bank. Let’s discuss the people responsible for increasing shareholder value. Mr. Floyd, please introduce us to your management team.

Kyle Floyd:

I’m excited about our management team, we’ve handpicked and recruited the management team that we have to fill the roles that we believe needed to be filled over the years to create shareholder value. I founded the concept back in 2013, 2014, and with the belief that we needed to have competitive advantages and skillsets that increase shareholder value and the capability to do so. And so, a few of our key management team members, Spencer Cole is our Chief Investment Officer with a background as a mining engineer, previously worked at South 32 and BHP, and BHP is where the Mineral Royalties Online business, the inspiration was found. Riaan Esterhuizen, who is one of our Executive Vice-Presidents out of Australia. Riaan’s a geologist, Riaan’s led some of the most interesting grassroots exploration campaigns for the who’s who of majors. They went about building Mineral Royalties Online. They built that business. They came into Vox and we acquired that business. And that’s been a huge part of our success. Simon Cooper has been with us for a very long time. Simon’s a mining engineer, a geologist, entrepreneurial, and brings a significant amount of technical capability. He’s worked with some of the most interesting projects all around the world, but also has a very good skill set in terms of finding acquisitions to bring in those acquisitions into our portfolio. And then we have a great CFO in Pascal Attard, and a great General Counsel in Adrian Cochrane. So we believe that we’ve built one of the most exciting and capable management teams in the small-cap royalty space. And it’s a huge asset for our business and our investors.

Maurice Jackson:

And here’s an opportunity to brag on yourself, who is Kyle Floyd, and what makes him qualified for the task at hand?

Kyle Floyd:

It’s always hard to talk about yourself. I’m supposed to be talking about others. But just a little bit about my background. I ran the Mining Investment Banking Division for a firm called Roth Capital. And the inspiration to build Vox was around helping mining companies raise capital, but then seeing that capital not get deployed in the right means and the right ways. And at the end of the day, not generating great risk-adjusted results for investors. And so I’d advise multiple companies on selling streams and royalties and acquiring streams and royalties.

And I believe that was the best business model for the generalist investor to get exposure to commodities. And I went about building a business model for investors, by investors? We started with a seven and a half million dollar investment and began building this company around generating better risk-adjusted returns in the commodity sector. And we’ve been very successful at doing so. And so that’s a little bit of my background. I graduated in Finance from the University of Washington, then a stint at Colorado School of Mines in the Mineral and Energy Economics Department, but a business built around achieving great risk-adjusted returns for our investors.

Maurice Jackson:

Switching gears, let’s look at some numbers, Mr. Floyd, please provide the capital structure for Vox Royalty.

Kyle Floyd:

Vox Royalty has a tight share structure of 39 million shares issued. We, when we went public in May of last year, we had to forward split the stock, which I would tell you, is almost an anomaly in the resource sector. We have 5 million warrants outstanding, at this stage they have a strike at $4.50, which is out of the money as we speak today, and no debt and a very, very strong working capital position. Vox is very well-financed. We have a tight capital structure. We have no intentions of going back to the equity markets anytime soon, and we will continue to be able to build our asset portfolio combination of debt and strategic acquisitions and minimize dilution in doing so. So I’m excited about where our capital structure is today for investors. I think it’s a very unique opportunity from that perspective,

Maurice Jackson:

Who are some of the major shareholders?

Kyle Floyd:

We’ve done a pretty good job of cultivating a nice institutional shareholder base. Management owns 15%. The founding investors own another 15% to 30%. And then we’ve got a nice institutional shareholder roster made up of Konwave, US Global, Adrian day, EuroPacific Gold Fund, and many others that have taken positions in us over the last year and a half.

Maurice Jackson:

In closing. Mr. Floyd, for current and prospective shareholders, why Vox and why now?

Kyle Floyd:

Vox, I believe is a tremendous opportunity emboldened by the fact that we are trading at the very low end, the relative valuation spectrum versus our peers. If you look at some of our closest comps, I’ll refrain from naming them, but they’re trading at multiples of our relative valuation. Yet we’re growing faster, we’re growing at a better value. We’re growing with better fundamentals. And we have competitive advantages that a lot of the industry wishes that they had. And so I believe we’re a tremendous growth opportunity. There is a lot lower risk given our lower relative multiple. So the risk of return upside, I think is there. We’re very optimistic about what we’re going to be achieving for investors over the immediate future and the long term. You have a management team that’s committed to the success of this business owning 15% combined. We look at this as solely an opportunity to create long-term shareholder wealth. And I think our business model is achieving that for our shareholders every day.

Maurice Jackson:

Last question. What did I forget to ask?

Kyle Floyd:

I think we’ve covered just about everything, and it’s really about finding the best risk-adjusted way to play commodities. That’s why we’re here. I believe we’re offering that for investors. We’ve continued to demonstrate that with our recent quarterly results and investors expect more of that as we continue to progress and build this business. And what I believe is realized a re-rating for our shareholders. And even if we don’t, we’re going to continue realizing and create value for our shareholders, and it should also be reflected in the share price and our share value at the end of the day.

Maurice Jackson:

Mr. Floyd, for someone that wants to learn more about Vox Royalty, please share the contact details.

Kyle Floyd:

Absolutely. Voxroyalty.com. We’re on all the social media channels as well. We are happy to engage. There’s also, IR@voxroyalty.com. Please, feel free to be in touch. We love engaging with our investors, and we’ll be happy to share more information.

Maurice Jackson:

Mr. Floyd, it’s been a pleasure to speak with you. Wishing you and Fox Royalty the absolute best sir.

And as a reminder, I am a licensed representative to buy and sell precious metals through Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments, where we have several options to expand your precious metals portfolio, from physical delivery of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium, to offshore depositories, and precious metals IRA’s. Give me a call at 855.505.1900 or you may email: Maurice@MilesFranklin.com.  Finally, please subscribe to www.provenandprobable.com, where we provide: Mining Insights and Bullion Sales, subscription is free.

Categories
Breaking Emx Royalty Energy Precious Metals Project Generators

EMX Completes Final Closing on the Royalty Acquisition on the Caserones Copper-Molybdenum Mine in Northern Chile

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – September 3, 2021) – EMX Royalty Corporation (NYSE American: EMX) (TSXV: EMX) (FSE: 6E9) (the “Company“, or “EMX“) is pleased to announce that it has completed the second and final closing under the agreement to acquire an effective 0.418% Net Smelter Return (“NSR“) royalty on the operating Caserones Copper-Molybdenum Mine (the “Caserones Royalty“) located in northern Chile for US$34.1 million in cash (see EMX news releases dated August 17 and August 23, 2021).

As previously reported, EMX formed a 50%-50% partnership with Altus Strategies Plc (AIM: ALS) (TSXV: ALTS) (OTCQX: ALTUF) (“Altus“) to acquire an effective 0.836% NSR royalty for US$68.2 million. EMX and Altus now each control an effective 0.418% royalty interest and each were responsible for US$34.1 million of the purchase price. EMX and Altus have formed a Chilean company, Minera Tercero, Spa (“Tercero“), of which EMX and Altus each own 50%. Tercero agreed to purchase 43% of the issued and outstanding shares of an underlying royalty holder, Sociedad Legal Minera California Una de la Sierra Peña Negra (“SLM California“), through a Share Purchase Agreement with 16 shareholders of SLM California to acquire ownership of 43% of SLM California’s issued and outstanding shares, and thereby indirect ownership of 43% of SLM California’s 1.944% NSR royalty interest in the Caserones property (i.e., a 0.836% NSR royalty interest, held as 0.418% by EMX and 0.418% by Altus).

Under the first closing, Tercero acquired 33% of SLM California for US$52.3 million. The second and final purchase of the remaining 10% of the shares of SLM California has now been completed for US$15.9 million.https://s.yimg.com/rq/darla/4-9-0/html/r-sf-flx.html

The acquisition of the Caserones Royalty is expected to provide immediate enhancement to EMX’s royalty cash flow and to secure long-term proceeds from copper and molybdenum production in one of the world’s top mining regions.

Eric P. Jensen, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and an employee of the Company, has reviewed, verified, and approved the disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release.

About EMX. EMX is a precious, base and battery metals royalty company. EMX’s investors are provided with discovery, development, and commodity price optionality, while limiting exposure to risks inherent to operating companies. The Company’s common shares are listed on the NYSE American Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “EMX”, as well as on the Frankfurt exchange under the symbol “6E9”. Please see www.EMXroyalty.com for more information.

For further information contact:

David M. Cole
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (303) 979-6666
Dave@EMXroyalty.com

Scott Close
Director of Investor Relations
Phone: (303) 973-8585
SClose@EMXroyalty.com

Isabel Belger
Investor Relations (Europe)
Phone: +49 178 4909039
Ibelger@EMXroyalty.com

Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain “forward looking statements” that reflect the Company’s current expectations and projections about its future results. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding completion of the second closing of the Caserones royalty purchase, , expected cash flows from EMX’s interest in the Caserones royalty, perceived merits of properties, exploration results and budgets, mineral reserves and resource estimates, work programs, capital expenditures, timelines, strategic plans, market prices for precious and base metal, or other statements that are not statements of fact. When used in this news release, words such as “estimate,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “will”, “believe”, “potential”, “upside” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which, by their very nature, are not guarantees of the Company’s future operational or financial performance, and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company’s actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and factors may include, but are not limited to: failure of the vendors under the Share Purchase Agreement to perform their obligations, fluctuations in or problems with production from the Caserones mine, unavailability of financing, failure to identify commercially viable mineral reserves, fluctuations in the market valuation for commodities, difficulties in obtaining required approvals for the development of a mineral project, increased regulatory compliance costs, expectations of project funding by joint venture partners and other factors. It is possible EMX may not complete the transaction, as a result of failure to fulfill conditions of closing, unavailability of financing or for other reasons EMX cannot anticipate at this time.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date otherwise specifically indicated herein. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified in this news release, and other risk factors and forward-looking statements listed in the Company’s MD&A for the quarter ended June 30, 2021 and the year ended December 31, 2020 (the “MD&A”), and the most recently filed Revised Annual Information Form (the “AIF”) for the year ended December 31, 2020, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. More information about the Company, including the MD&A, the AIF and financial statements of the Company, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the SEC’s EDGAR website at www.sec.gov.

Categories
Base Metals Breaking Emx Royalty Energy Exclusive Interviews Junior Mining Precious Metals

EMX Royalty – Adds 18 New Royalty Properties from SSR Mining

Maurice Jackson:

Joining us for a conversation is David Cole, the CEO of EMX Royalty (NYSE: EMX | TSX.V: EMX), the Royalty Generator.

Maurice Jackson:

Honored to have you with us today sir, as you have some breaking news for shareholders, as EMX Royalty has just consummated a watershed moment with the announcement of the Royalty Portfolio purchase agreement with SSR Mining (Press Release). Mr. Cole, thank you for allowing me to be the first to say congratulations’ sir on a significant milestone on what may be the biggest company event in the history of EMX Royalty.

David Cole:

We are very pleased with this transaction, pleased to have SSR Mining as a shareholder in the company, and it’s been a pleasure to work with them.

Maurice Jackson:

Let’s get right into the press release, the EMX Royalty acquisition consists of 18 geographically diverse royalties with 4 royalty assets at advanced stages of project development. Please provide us with the details of the Royalty Purchase Agreement with SSR Mining.

David Cole:

Well, we’re paying $66 million upfront for this portfolio, $33 million in share capital, and $33 million in cash, which are deferred payments depending upon the performance of the Yenipazar net profit interest royalty in Turkey. Those deferred payments accumulate up to $34 million, but that’s not until that asset cashflows $20 million. We’re pleased with respect to how this is designed. This gives SSR Mining a nice chunk of equity in the EMX which is one of the key things that they were looking for when they chose us to sell the Royalty Portfolio.

Maurice Jackson:

What type of value creation will EMX derive from this transaction and how will it impact the synergies with the existing EMX initiatives around the world?

David Cole:

One of the key things here is immediate large cash flow. The Gediktepe mine which is at the final stages of construction and should be in production within a month or two has a high-grade oxide cap that’s gold enriched with a 10% NSR and we’ll see immediate gold royalty income over double-digit millions of dollars per annum from that royalty right out of the gate. We’re very, very pleased with that so this really propels at the top of our pyramid forward, which is something that we’ve been working on for some time as we’ve discussed previously, with respect to Synergies with our existing portfolio, and one of the reasons why we were able to grab this is because of our relationships in Turkey and our comfort with Lydia as an operator there. And that gave us an edge with respect to working with SSR to accomplish this deal.

Maurice Jackson:

One of the key aspects of this transaction along with all of EMX Royalties is something you’ve covered with us and that is the value proposition of embedded optionality, which is just icing on the cake for each of your royalty properties. Can you please elaborate on the virtues of embedded optionality within royalties?

 David Cole:

It’s one of my favorite topics and it’s the reason why royalties traded such premium valuations is because of all the embedded optionality, commodity price optionality, discovery optionality, engineering advancement optionality, et cetera, et cetera. And mining districts have a history of giving and giving and it’s always to the benefit of the royalty holder and no cost to the royalty holder. So that’s why royalties are so dear and I will point out that royalty companies that have large numbers of royalties trade at a much higher valuation per royalty than royalty companies, so the lower number of royalties, this is a phenomenon that’s existed in the royalty sector now for some time. Where the portfolio effect impacts the overall valuation of that portfolio and that’s because of this multiplicative optionality of the entire portfolio. You never know where the big success is going to come from years out.

David Cole:

As you know our goal here is to continue to grow this portfolio through organic methods which we’re good at and have had a track record for 18 years of doing, but also through acquisition. And we’ve been challenged quite honestly, to accomplish big creative acquisitions because it’s a competitive space. That we’ve been very patient. We stood at the plate and they kept throwing more pitches at us and we found one to hit and hit it out of the park.

Maurice Jackson:

Great way to put it, sir. I referenced a watershed moment. Where does today’s press release rank with the relation to the Malmyzh and/or the Timok?

David Cole:

Well, that’s interesting certainly the value proposition of the Timok acquisition is unbeatable because we paid $200,000 Canadian dollars for a royalty that’s going to pay hundreds of millions. So that one’s astonishing, but that had to do with the fact that we were in that district and understood what was going on there very early in the history of the discovery and were able to acquire that royalty early on thanks to our geologic understanding of the region. That’s a tough one to compare. With respect to the Malmyzh transaction that was a fantastic deal that cashed-up EMX and put us in a position where we could do this deal.

David Cole:

And step-by-step we’re building this company. Very pleased with these transactions. Malmyzh was super accretive for us. As you know, we booked $67 million US dollars out of that deal and have put those monies to excellent work. This being the top example. You and other folks have asked me many, many, many times, “What are you going to do with the money, Dave, what are you going to do with the money”? We just kept looking and turning down opportunities and losing sales processes because our bids weren’t as high as our competitors until the right one came along. And one of the key aspects that made this deal happen, as I mentioned, is the fact that SSR specifically wants to be a shareholder in EMX. And I’ve said before that the right transaction that’ll really advance this company is going to be one where the major companies selling their royalties understand the value proposition that EMX offers and want to be a contributor, want to be a member of the team.

Maurice Jackson:

Speaking of the Timok, which is a company making event in and of itself, what are the latest developments there?

David Cole:

It’s going into production. I do believe that they had a couple of delays. So they were originally talking about an opening ceremony in June. I believe that’s been pushed back to August at this point, maybe September, but that’s still ahead of the original schedule. The Chinese have been very aggressive. It’s advancing into production.

Maurice Jackson:

Leaving the property bank Mr. Cole, please provide us with the capital structure for EMX royalty.

 David Cole:

Well, we’re sitting here today with $84 million shares issued and outstanding and few over $90 million shares fully diluted. That’s not including the shares that we will issue to SSR, which on a pro forma basis will be approximately 12% of the company. So that’ll push us up towards the 95 issued outstanding and over a hundred million fully diluted at the completion of this transaction, which should hopefully occur within four to five weeks in my opinion. Sitting here today with about $30 million US dollars in cash, of course, those monies get paid to SSR as part of this transaction as well.

David Cole:

We have about $20 million in tradable securities and long-term investments in our portfolio as well and no debt at this time. However, we will be taking on a small $10 million debt from Sprott. We appreciate their support as a capital partner for EMX. They’ve helped us out in the past as well. That puts us in a situation where even though we’re putting out USD $33 million to SSR for this transaction, thanks to Sprott we’ll still have a nice cushion here with respect to money in the treasury to continually advance our organic growth, which is our job one, as you know.

Maurice Jackson:

Just for the record, ladies, and gentlemen, I plan to match my bullion purchases with shares and EMX royalty.  I believe the company has the potential to melt-up. And I’m talking about the stock price of course. The stock price, in my opinion, is at a fire sale. And that is Maurice Jackson’s opinion, but not really just my opinion, Mr. Cole, you and I both know some of the most prominent names in the natural resource space. They share the same sentiment about EMX royalty.

David Cole:

Happy to have those guys on as contributors.

Maurice Jackson:

Yes, sir. In closing, what would you like to say to shareholders?

David Cole:

EMX Royalty is in a situation here today where the Bayla royalty of 4% royalty on the lead, zinc, silver mine in Turkey is coming into production. Zijin is advancing the Timok project towards production, of course, Leeville in the background that pays every month. And we have an immense amount of optionality within our pyramid is bubbling up towards the top. And these names I’m throwing out are just examples of that. We’ve talked about the potential for this to become a cash cow over time. We’ve just poured fuel on the fire. We put gasoline on the fire here with this one and the Gediktepe 10% NSR and the oxide gold cap will just propel our gold income in the company here substantially over the next three years. We’re very excited.

Maurice Jackson:

Mr. Cole, for readers that want to get more information about EMX royalty please share the website address.

David Cole:

www.emxroyalty.com -The contact details for myself, Scott Close, and Isabel Belger managing European investor relations, and Scott here in North America are embedded in the website and on the press release feel free to reach out to us.

Maurice Jackson:

Mr. Cole, it’s been a pleasure speaking with you, wishing you and EMX royalty the absolute best, sir.

 David Cole:

Thank you, Maurice. Always appreciate your support.

Maurice Jackson:

And as a reminder, I am a licensed representative to buy and sell precious metals through Miles Franklin Precious Metals Investments, where we have several options to expand your precious metals portfolio, from physical delivery of gold, silver, platinum, palladium, and rhodium, to offshore depositories, and precious metals IRA’s. Give me a call at 855.505.1900 or you may email: Maurice@MilesFranklin.com.  Finally, please subscribe to www.provenandprobable.com, where we provide: Mining Insights and Bullion Sales, subscription is free.

Categories
Base Metals Breaking Emx Royalty Energy Junior Mining Precious Metals Project Generators

EMX Executes Agreement to Acquire Royalty Portfolio from SSR Mining

Figure 1: Locations of assets in the Royalty Portfolio

EMX Executes Agreement to Acquire Royalty Portfolio from SSR Mining

Vancouver, British Columbia, July 29, 2021 (NYSE American: EMX; TSX Venture: EMX; Frankfurt: 6E9) – EMX Royalty Corporation (the “Company”, or “EMX”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement (the “Royalty Purchase Agreement”) dated July 29, 2021 with SSR Mining Inc. and certain of its subsidiaries (“SSR Mining”) to purchase a portfolio of royalty interests and deferred payments (the “Royalty Portfolio”). The Royalty Portfolio consists of 18 geographically diverse royalties, with four royalty assets at advanced stages of project development, and also includes U.S. $18 million in future cash payments to be made to the owner of the Royalty Portfolio (see Figure 1 and Table 1). Upon closing of the transaction EMX will pay to SSR Mining U.S. $33 million in cash and U.S. $33 million in common shares of EMX. EMX will also make deferred and contingent payments to SSR Mining of up to U.S. $34 million if certain project advancement milestones are achieved. Further details of the commercial terms are provided below. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSX-V”).

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.

This transaction will leverage EMX’s experience base in Turkey, is expected to provide significant near-term cash flow to the Company, and establishes a pipeline of quality royalty assets in numerous well-recognized mineral belts around the world. EMX has been working in Turkey for nearly 20 years and looks forward to building its relationship with both SSR Mining and Lidya. In Lidya, EMX sees a well funded and highly capable operator that is developing both the Gediktepe and Hod Maden mines in Turkey. The Gediktepe and Yenipazar royalty interests will bolster EMX’s existing royalty portfolio in Turkey, which includes an uncapped 4% NSR royalty on the Balya North polymetallic deposit and other royalty interests in Turkey. Balya North is being developed by Esan Eczacibaşi Endüstriyel Hammaddeler San. ve Tic. A.Ş. (“Esan”) and remains on schedule to commence commercial production in 2021.

This Royalty Portfolio acquisition is well aligned with EMX’s corporate growth strategy, whereby the Company leverages its in-region expertise in identifying opportunities in jurisdictions where EMX already has a strategic presence. Through the years this approach has led to continuous value creation for the Company and synergies with existing EMX initiatives around the world. Further, securing near term positive cash flow will represent an important step in the Company’s evolution.

Rodney Antal, President and Chief Executive Officer of SSR Mining, commented “We are very excited to become a shareholder of EMX where our investors will have the opportunity to participate in the value creation associated with an established, growth-oriented company with an attractive portfolio of precious, base and battery metals royalties”.

Commercial Terms Overview. As stated above, upon closing of the transaction EMX will pay to SSR Mining U.S. $33 million in cash and U.S. $33 million in common shares of EMX. The number of common shares to be issued by EMX to SSR Mining will be based on the volume-weighted average price (“VWAP”) of the shares on the NYSE American stock exchange for the 20 days prior to the date of completion of the transaction (the “Closing Date”). All such shares will be subject to a hold period of 4 months and a day from the Closing Date. Upon closing, SSR Mining will own an approximate 12% undiluted equity interest in EMX, subject to final calculation at closing.

Additional deferred payments of up to U.S. $34 million will be made by EMX to SSR Mining in consideration for the Net Profits Interest (“NPI”) royalty on the Yenipazar property in Turkey. These will be payable as follows: (i) U.S. $2,000,000 in EMX common shares based on the 20-day VWAP prior to the date of commencement of construction of a mill on the Yenipazar property; (ii) U.S. $2,000,000 in EMX common shares based on the 20-day VWAP prior to the date of commencement of commercial production; (iii) U.S. $15,000,000 in cash, payable when EMX has received U.S. $10,000,000 in net profits interest payments under the Yenipazar NPI; and (iv) U.S. $15,000,000 in cash, payable when EMX has received a second U.S. $10,000,000 in net profits interest payments. All such shares will be subject to a hold period of 4 months and a day from the date of issue.

EMX intends to pay up to U.S. $10,000,000 of the cash payable at closing with the proceeds of a U.S. $10,000,000 senior secured credit facility (the “Credit Facility”) provided for in a non-binding term sheet EMX has entered into with Sprott Private Resource Lending II (Collector), LP (“Sprott”). The Credit Facility is to mature one year from the Closing Date, bear interest at a rate of 7% per annum, and be secured by general security agreements over the assets of EMX and certain of its subsidiaries, and pledges of the shares of certain of EMX’s subsidiaries, who will, at Sprott’s election, also be guarantors of the loan. In addition to interest payable, the U.S. $10,000,000 to be advanced under the Credit Facility will also be subject to an original issue discount equal to 5% of the amount of the advance. Under the term sheet, Sprott will subscribe for U.S. $300,000 of EMX common shares at closing, at a deemed price equal to U.S. $2.74 per share. All such shares will be subject to a hold period of 4 months and a day from the Closing Date.

If the Credit Facility is not ultimately entered into, the Royalty Purchase Agreement provides for vendor takeback financing by SSR Mining of up to U.S. $5,000,000 (the “VTB Note”), and EMX will pay the balance of the cash payable at closing from available working capital. The VTB Note will bear interest at 14% per annum and will mature 60 days from the Closing Date. If unpaid within such 60 day period, the VTB Note ‎will bear additional interest at a rate of 2% per annum for each 60 day period past due‎.

Royalty Portfolio Overview. 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, and further information on the Royalty Portfolio and other EMX assets can be found at www.emxroyalty.com. Upon completion of the transaction, of the royalties purchased, only the royalty over the Gediktepe property in Turkey will be material to EMX at the present time. EMX is currently preparing a technical report on the Gediktepe property to be filed on SEDAR.

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 Lidya has commenced development and construction of the project and is anticipating initial production in late 2021.

Alacer, the previous owner of the Gediktepe royalties, completed a merger with SSR Mining 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 Prefeasibility 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 is filed on SEDAR and contains historical mining reserve and resource estimates (summarized in Tables 2.1 and 2.2).

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 Mining. 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, ArgentinaDiablillos is an extensive 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 oxidized, 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 on the earlier of the date on which commercial production occurs at Diablillos or July 31, 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 gold[1]. 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.


Note: A qualified person has not performed sufficient work to classify the historical resource estimate for Diablillos as current, and EMX is not treating the historical estimate as current mineral resources. Significant data compilation, confirmation drilling, re-sampling and data verification by a qualified person may be required before the historical estimates can be classified as current mineral resources. The historical estimate is considered by EMX to be reliable and relevant, and is presented for the purpose of describing the extent and nature of mineralization as presently understood. The historical estimate should not be relied upon until verified.

Summary: By agreeing to acquire the Royalty Portfolio, EMX seeks to secure near term and sustained cash flow from a diverse collection of royalty interests and deferred consideration payments. Further, EMX welcomes SSR Mining as a strategic shareholder in EMX. EMX views this transaction as wholly accretive to its overall business, where royalties over multiple advanced and resource stage assets add significant value and diversity to EMX’s global portfolio.

Eric P. Jensen, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and an employee of the Company, has reviewed, verified, and approved the disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release.


[1] As 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).

About EMX. EMX is a precious, base and battery metals royalty company. EMX’s investors are provided with discovery, development, and commodity price optionality, while limiting exposure to risks inherent to operating companies. The Company’s common shares are listed on the NYSE American Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol EMX. Please see www.EMXroyalty.com for more information.

About SSR Mining. SSR Mining Inc. is a leading, free cash flow focused intermediate gold company with four producing assets located in the USA, Turkey, Canada, and Argentina, combined with a global pipeline of high-quality development and exploration assets in the USA, Turkey, Mexico, Peru, and Canada. SSR Mining is listed under the ticker symbol SSRM on the NASDAQ and the TSX, and SSR on the ASX.
For further information contact:
David M. ColePresident and Chief Executive OfficerPhone: (303) 979-6666Dave@EMXroyalty.com
Scott CloseDirector of Investor RelationsPhone: (303) 973-8585SClose@EMXroyalty.com
Isabel BelgerInvestor Relations (Europe)Phone: +49 178 4909039Ibelger@EMXroyalty.com
Neither the TSX-V nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain “forward looking statements” that reflect the Company’s current expectations and projections about its future results. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding completion of the transaction, perceived merits of properties, exploration results and budgets, mineral reserves and resource estimates, work programs, capital expenditures, timelines, strategic plans, market prices for precious and base metal, or other statements that are not statements of fact. When used in this news release, words such as “estimate,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “will”, “believe”, “potential”, “upside” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which, by their very nature, are not guarantees of the Company’s future operational or financial performance, and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company’s actualresults, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and factors may include, but are not limited to: unavailability of financing, failure to identify commercially viable mineral reserves, fluctuations in the market valuation for commodities, difficulties in obtaining required approvals for the development of a mineral project, increased regulatory compliance costs, expectations of project funding by joint venture partners and other factors. It is possible EMX may not complete the transaction, as a result of failure to fulfill conditions of closing, unavailability of financing or for other reasons EMX cannot anticipate at this time.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date otherwise specifically indicated herein. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified in this news release, and other risk factors and forward-looking statements listed in the Company’s MD&A for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 and the year ended December 31, 2020 (the “MD&A”), and the most recently filed Revised Annual Information Form (the “AIF”) for the year ended December 31, 2020, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. More information about the Company, including the MD&A, the AIF and financial statements of the Company, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the SEC’s EDGAR website at www.sec.gov.

Categories
Base Metals Emx Royalty Energy Junior Mining Project Generators

EMX Executes Agreement to Sell its Svärdsjö Project in Sweden to District Metals


July 22, 2021

Related Document

Vancouver, British Columbia, July 22, 2021 (NYSE American: EMX; TSX Venture: EMX; Frankfurt: 6E9) – EMX Royalty Corporation (the “Company” or “EMX”) is pleased to announce the the execution of an agreement for the sale of its Svärdsjö polymetallic project (the “Project”) in Sweden to District Metals Corp. (TSX-V: DMX) (“District”). The agreement provides the Company with additional share equity in DMX that brings EMX’s ownership of District to 9.9%, annual advance royalty payments, a 2.5% Net Smelter Returns (“NSR”) royalty interest in the Project, and other consideration.

The Svärdsjö Project is located in the prolific Bergslagen mining region of southern Sweden, nearby District’s Tomtebo and Trollberget polymetallic VMS projects, which are also EMX royalty properties (see Figure 1). The Svärdsjö Project hosts multiple zones of polymetallic (copper-zinc-lead-silver-gold) volcanogenic massive sulfide (“VMS”) and carbonate replacement (“CRD”) style mineralization and is located in the vicinity of the historic Falun VMS mine and Boliden AB’s active Garpenberg mine, one of the largest and most efficient underground polymetallic mines in the world.

Svärdsjö has been the site of historical mining activity for over 500 years, with production continuing through to 1989. Most recently, Boliden AB explored and drilled extensively in the area from 2009 until 2019. Historical production records indicate that much of the production came prior to 1972 and focussed on silver rich copper-zinc-lead mineralization developed as zones of replacement in carbonate host rocks. These styles of mineralization are similar to that seen in the nearby Garpenberg mine. See www.EMXroyalty.com for further information on the Project.

The agreement with District represents another example of EMX’s execution of the royalty generation aspect of its business model. Although not available when first recognized during regional assessments, Svärdsjö remained on an EMX “watch list” for several years until coming available in 2020, when EMX quickly moved to secure the opportunity. EMX looks forward to working closely with District to further advance the Project.

Commercial Terms Overview. In accordance with the agreement, District will acquire a 100% interest in the Project subject to the following terms (all dollar amounts in CAD):

  • Upon closing, EMX will transfer the Svärdsjö exploration license to District.
  • Upon closing, EMX will receive $35,000 in cash and 1,400,000 common shares of DMX that increases EMX’s equity ownership in DMX to 9.9% (on a non-diluted basis).
  • EMX will receive a 2.5% NSR royalty interest in the Project. On or before the sixth anniversary after closing, DMX has the option to purchase 0.5% of the NSR on the Project by paying EMX $2,000,000.
  • EMX will receive annual advance royalty (“AAR”) payments of $25,000 for the Project commencing on the third anniversary of the closing, with the AAR payment increasing by $10,000 per year until reaching $75,000.
  • Payments of $275,000, payable in cash or shares of DMX, will be made to EMX upon the achievement of certain milestones, and District will be responsible for fulfilling work commitments on the Project.
  • To maintain its interest in the Project, within five years of the closing of the transaction, DMX will also: (i) spend a minimum of $1,000,000 on Project work expenditures with a minimum of $150,000 spent each year, and (ii) complete a minimum of 3,500 m of drilling.
  • Closing is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

Overview of the Svärdsjö Project. The Project comprises 1,037 hectares within the prolific Bergslagen mining region in southern Sweden. In the Project area, copper-zinc-lead-silver-gold VMS and carbonate replacement style mineralization are associated with mid-Proterozoic age volcanic belts (refer to Figure 1). The Project is situated within a three-hour drive of Stockholm-Arlanda airport and has excellent year-round access, as well as nearby rail and power lines.

Mineralization at Svärdsjö is primarily developed as polymetallic sulfide replacements in dolomitic carbonate units accompanied by skarn minerals. Bodies of mineralization are enveloped within broader alteration zones typical of VMS systems, which in the case of Svärdsjö, provide well documented vectors that can be used to guide further exploration.

Historical production primarily came from three mining areas, which includes Kompanimalmen (“Company Ore”), Mellangruvan (“Middle Mine”), and Norramalmen (“Northern Ore”), with several of the historical zones remaining open and poorly explored at depth. Most recently, exploration between 2009-2019 delineated new lenses of mineralization to the west and southwest of the historical mining areas1. These, and other underexplored areas of the project will be targets for further exploration.

In addition, several additional exploration targets exist on the project, either defined by untested geophysical anomalies, or based upon trends of historical prospects and occurrences.

Notes on nearby mines and deposits. The nearby mines and deposits discussed in this news release provide context for EMX’s Project, which occurs in a similar geologic setting, but this is not necessarily indicative that the Project hosts similar mineralization.

Dr. Eric P. Jensen, CPG, a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and employee of the Company, has reviewed, verified and approved the disclosure of the technical information contained in this news release.

About EMX. EMX is a precious, base and battery metals royalty company. EMX’s investors are provided with discovery, development, and commodity price optionality, while limiting exposure to risks inherent to operating companies. The Company’s common shares are listed on the NYSE American Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol EMX. Please see www.EMXroyalty.com for more information.

For further information contact:

David M. Cole
President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone: (303) 979-6666
Dave@EMXroyalty.com

Scott Close
Director of Investor Relations
Phone: (303) 973-8585
SClose@EMXroyalty.com

Isabel Belger
Investor Relations (Europe)
Phone: +49 178 4909039
Ibelger@EMXroyalty.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain “forward looking statements” that reflect the Company’s current expectations and projections about its future results. These forward-looking statements may include statements regarding perceived merit of properties, exploration results and budgets, mineral reserves and resource estimates, work programs, capital expenditures, timelines, strategic plans, market prices for precious and base metal, or other statements that are not statements of fact. When used in this news release, words such as “estimate,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “will”, “believe”, “potential”, “upside” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, which, by their very nature, are not guarantees of the Company’s future operational or financial performance, and are subject to risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause the Company’s actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and factors may include, but are not limited to: unavailability of financing, failure to identify commercially viable mineral reserves, fluctuations in the market valuation for commodities, difficulties in obtaining required approvals for the development of a mineral project, increased regulatory compliance costs, expectations of project funding by joint venture partners and other factors.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date otherwise specifically indicated herein.  Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified in this news release, and other risk factors and forward-looking statements listed in the Company’s MD&A for the year ended March 31, 2021 (the “MD&A”), and the most recently filed Annual Information Form (the “AIF”) for the year ended December 31, 2020, actual events may differ materially from current expectations.  More information about the Company, including the MD&A, the AIF and financial statements of the Company, is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the SEC’s EDGAR website at www.sec.gov.

1  A. Fahlvik, 2018: Hydrothermal alteration and lithogeochemical marker units at the Svärdsjö Zn-Pb-Cu deposit, Bergslagen, Sweden, and their implication for exploration.

Figure 1. Location map, major geologic features and mineral occurrences in the Svärdsjö area.