Lara Raises Equity With Major New Shareholder
Contributed Opinion

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Lara Exploration Ltd. (LRA:TSX.V) said it raised C$33,750,000 in its recent offering, just closed, including a new major shareholder.

Atalaya Mining, a $1.5 billion Spanish copper producer and member of the FTSE 250 Index, purchased C$13.5 million shares for 7.3% of the outstanding shares, becoming the third-largest shareholder after my management firm and chairman Miles Thompson.

As discussed (see Bulletin #1001), this raise gives the company sufficient funds to advance its Planalto Copper project in Brazil to feasibility, and we expect good news flow going forward.

Buy.

Royal Gold Sees Five-Year Growth, With More Beyond

Royal Gold Inc. (RGLD:NASDAQ) issued its first five-year guidance (after repeated nagging from analysts at the big Canadian firms!). It is targeting a range between 430k and 480k GEO, which would be 17% growth over this year. The underwhelming headline number excludes Royal's 30% equity interest in the Hod Maden project in Turkey, which it obtained when it bought Sandstorm, and which it wants to convert into a royalty or stream.

It includes several expected expansions, but overall may be conservative, and of course, any potential acquisition over the next five years. It also has some large projects expected to start in the few years after 2030, so its longer-term growth profile is quite positive.

For this year, Royal is guiding between 366k and 409k GEO, slightly weighted towards the second half of the year. That is growth of 25% over last year. It excludes a few possible deliveries with unknown timing, such as silver delivery catch-up at Pueblo Viejo, so is reasonably conservative.

Royal said it has repaid $125 million on its credit facility last month, reducing the balance to $600 million. It has available funds of $800 million.

The announcements came ahead of an "investor day" where the company laid out its strategy, growth drivers, and differentiation from other large royalty companies, as well as how it believes it is undervalued relative to its peers. For interested investors, the two-and-a-half hours is well worth watching. You can find it on the Royal Gold webpage, under "investor resources". You will need to register (so I can't provide a direct link).

With 90% of this year's revenue from precious metals, of which 80% is from gold, Royal said it had the most diversified asset base of the majors, with more growth, and noted that its biggest knock, the average duration of its assets, has improved. It is undervalued relative to the majors on nearly all metrics.

Hold for now, but buy on dips.

Barrick Moves Ahead With North American IPO

Barrick Mining Corp. (ABX:TSX; B:NYSE) announced the formation of a new leadership group to pursue its North American IPO, a signal to the market that it intends pushing ahead. After catching up last year, the stock is lagging again this.

We have concerns about the company's new strategy as well as the effectiveness of the proposed IPO if it goes ahead as planned.

It also (finally) confirmed the press reports that it was slowing the development of Reko Diq, saying that it continues "to believe in the long-term value" of the project.

It also said that there would be "significant" increases to the estimated capital and extension of the timeline.

Hold.

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (WPM:TSX; WPM:NYSE) has acquired a $275 million gold-silver stream on the Jervois Project, a primary copper deposit in the Northern Territory in Australia.

Though small, this is a good deal in a positive jurisdiction with favorable returns (12% IRR).

The project is expected to be fully operation in 2027.

This is Wheaton's first transaction in Australia, a country where royalty and stream funding is beginning to gain acceptance.

Hold.

TOP BUYS this week, in addition to the above, include Metalla Royalty & Streaming Ltd. (MTA:TSX.V; MTA:NYSE American). We are buying little this week after the strong rally at the end of last week.