Nova Royalty Corp. (TSX-V: NOVR) (OTCQB: NOVRF) is pleased to announce that it has completed a royalty purchase agreement with Sociedad Minera Auromín Limitada pursuant to which Nova acquired the rights to be granted a 1.0% net proceeds royalty on the West Wall copper-gold-molybdenum project for US$4.2 million in cash. West Wall is owned by a 50/50 joint venture between Anglo American plc (LSE: AAL) and Glencore plc (LSE: GLEN).

Alex Tsukernik, Nova’s President and CEO, commented, “West Wall is one of the world’s premier greenfield copper projects. Together with the 0.98% NSR that we already own on the neighboring Vizcachitas project, through this transaction, Nova now owns royalties on two of the largest and most advanced development projects in one of Chile’s most strategic copper producing regions. West Wall is owned by two leading mining companies in Anglo American and Glencore and is a natural extension of Nova’s strategy of securing royalties on the most advanced and strategic copper and nickel assets in core mining jurisdictions.” 

West Wall

West Wall is a copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry deposit located in the Valparaiso Region of Chile, approximately 100km to the northeast of Santiago and 70km north of the Rio Blanco-Los Bronces mineralized district. The Project has two distinct mineralized zones: Lagunillas and West Wall Norte. The mineralization zones are part of an extensive north-northeast striking hydrothermal alteration zone of approximately 9km by 4km. The Royalty covers the Lagunillas and West Wall Norte zones, which comprise the existing resource on West Wall.

As of December 31, 2020, the mineral resource estimate for West Wall was:^(1),(2)

Mineral Resource Statement as at December 31, 2020

Anglo American reported a maiden inferred resource at West Wall, focused exclusively on the Lagunillas zone, on October 19, 2010. The stated inferred resource at that time was 750Mt at 0.54% Cu, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.01% Mo. Since then, Anglo American and Glencore have completed various exploration activities, which have resulted in the identification of a new mineralized zone, West Wall Norte, and a significant increase in total mineral resources.

The West Wall project is located in the same geological belt as some of South America’s largest copper deposits, including Andina, Los Bronces, Los Pelambres, El Pachon, and El Teniente. The Vizcachitas copper-molybdenum development project, on which Nova has an existing 0.98% royalty and is owned by Los Andes Copper (TSXV: LA), is approximately 20km away from West Wall.

A map of the region is shown below.

A map of the West Wall Project area is shown below.

Transaction Details

Under the terms of the Agreement, Auromín assigned Nova all of the rights granted to Auromín as defined in a Participation Agreement between Auromín and a subsidiary of Anglo American, concerning West Wall and any other mining tenements established as designated areas in the surrounding region.

The Participation Agreement provides that, upon the fulfillment of certain conditions, including Anglo American making a production decision at West Wall, a sociedad contractual minera (“SCM“) will be incorporated, and into which the mining tenements corresponding to the Project will be transferred. The owner of the Participation will be issued shares in the SCM, which will give such owner an 8.0% interest in the SCM. Subsequently, if one or more mines is brought into production for West Wall or another designated area‎, Anglo American will repurchase from the owner of the Participation the shares in the SCM that correspond to a 7.0% interest in the SCM for a predetermined price, leaving the owner of the Participation with a 1.0% interest in the SCM, which entitles the owner to a 1.0% net proceeds of production royalty from West Wall. A SCM will be similarly established for any other designated area within the scope of the Participation Agreement, giving the owner of the Participation the same rights as stated above with respect to such designated areas.

All payments resulting from the repurchase by Anglo American of the 7.0% interest in the SCM will be reimbursed in full to Auromín. Nova will retain sole ownership of 1.0% of the shares in the SCM, which entitle the owner of such shares to the 1.0% net proceeds of production royalty from the Project or such other designated area, as the case may be, which will not be subject to repurchase by Anglo American.

Nova has agreed to pay a finder’s fee to an arm’s length person totaling two percent (2%) of the Transaction value based on a volume weighted average trading price of the common shares of the Company prior to the date of closing which will represent an issuance of 30,748 common shares of the Company (the satisfaction of the finder’s fee in shares is subject to the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange).

At-the-Market Equity Program

The Company is also pleased to provide an update on its At-the-Market Equity Program. As of the date of this news release, Nova has sold 1,593,700 common shares at an average price of C$3.60/share ‎under its ATM Program for gross proceeds of C$5.73 million. As a result of these proceeds ‎and cash held on the balance sheet, the Company was fully funded to close the ‎royalty acquisition on West Wall.‎

Qualified Person

Technical information contained in this news release originates in the public disclosure set out above and has been reviewed and approved by Christian Rios, AIPG Certified Professional Geologist, Advisor to Nova and a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About Nova

Nova is a royalty company focused on providing investors with exposure to the key building blocks of clean energy – copper and nickel. The Company is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia and is listed on the TSXV  and on the US OTCQB

Map of the region (CNW Group/Nova Royalty Corp.)

Map of the West Wall Project area (CNW Group/Nova Royalty Corp.)