Sandstorm Gold Ltd. (“Sandstorm Gold Royalties”, “Sandstorm” or the “Company”) (NYSE: SAND, TSX: SSL) is announcing that further to the February 17, 2022 announcement, Sandstorm is divesting its approximately 25% stake in common shares (the “Entrée Shares”) of Entrée Resources Ltd. (“ETG” or “Entrée”) to 1363013 B.C. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Royalty North Partners Ltd. (“Horizon Copper” or “RNP”).
As previously announced in February, Sandstorm and RNP signed a letter of intent, as amended and restated on May 1, 2022, whereby Horizon Copper will acquire certain assets from Sandstorm, including 49,672,515 Entrée Shares (the “Disposition”), representing approximately 25.2% of the outstanding Entrée Shares (on a non-diluted basis). Sandstorm and Horizon Copper have entered into a definitive agreement for the sale of its Entrée Shares, for a deemed value of C$0.87 per Entrée Share, in consideration for a promissory note in the principal amount of C$43.2 million. The promissory note will be secured by a security interest over the Entrée Shares transferred to Horizon Copper.
Before giving effect to the Disposition, Sandstorm owns 49,672,515 Entrée Shares as well as warrants to purchase an additional 1,200,000 Entrée Shares (the “Entrée Warrants”). The 49,672,515 Entrée Shares represent approximately 25.2% of the outstanding Entrée Shares (on a non-diluted basis) or 25.7% of the outstanding Entrée Shares (on a partially diluted basis, assuming the exercise of all of the 1,200,000 Entrée Warrants held by the Company). Upon completion of the Disposition, no Entrée Shares and 1,200,000 Entrée Warrants will be owned by Sandstorm. Assuming the exercise of all of the 1,200,000 Entrée Warrants held by the Company, the Company will then hold 1,200,000 Entrée Shares, representing approximately 0.6% of the outstanding Entrée Shares (on a partially diluted basis).
Subject to RNP obtaining the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Disposition is expected to be completed on or about May 31, 2022. Sandstorm is proceeding with the Disposition for investment portfolio management purposes. Depending on market conditions and other factors, Sandstorm may from time to time acquire additional securities of Entrée, dispose of some or all of the existing or additional securities it holds or will hold, or may continue to hold its current position.
Pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 – The Early Warning System and Related Take Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues, an Early Warning Report containing additional information with respect to the foregoing matters will be filed by the Company on Entrée’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. To obtain a copy of the report, contact Kim Bergen at 604 628 1164. Entrée’s head office is located at 1066 West Hastings Street, Suite 1650, Vancouver, BC V6E 3X1, and Sandstorm’s head office is located at Suite 1400, 400 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 3A6.
Contact Information
For more information about Sandstorm Gold Royalties, please visit our website at www.sandstormgold.com or email us at info@sandstormgold.com.
Erfan Kazemi
Chief Financial Officer
604 689 0234
Kim Bergen
Capital Markets
604 628 1164
About Sandstorm Gold
Sandstorm is a gold royalty company that provides upfront financing to gold mining companies that are looking for capital and in return, receives the right to a percentage of the gold produced from a mine, for the life of the mine. After the closing of the transactions announced on May 2, 2022, Sandstorm will have acquired a portfolio of more than 250 royalties, of which 39 of the underlying mines are producing. Sandstorm plans to grow and diversify its low cost production profile through the acquisition of additional gold royalties. For more information visit: www.sandstormgold.com.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS TO U.S. SECURITYHOLDERS
The financial information included or incorporated by reference in this press release or the documents referenced herein has been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, which differs from US generally accepted accounting principles (“US GAAP”) in certain material respects, and thus are not directly comparable to financial statements prepared in accordance with US GAAP.
This press release and the documents incorporated by reference herein, as applicable, have been prepared in accordance with Canadian standards for the reporting of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, which differ from the previous and current standards of the United States securities laws. In particular, and without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the terms “mineral reserve”, “proven mineral reserve”, “probable mineral reserve”, “inferred mineral resources,”, “indicated mineral resources,” “measured mineral resources” and “mineral resources” used or referenced herein and the documents incorporated by reference herein, as applicable, are Canadian mineral disclosure terms as defined in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 — Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (“NI 43-101”) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (the “CIM”) — CIM Definition Standards on Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council, as amended (the “CIM Definition Standards”).
For United States reporting purposes, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) has adopted amendments to its disclosure rules (the “SEC Modernization Rules”) to modernize the mining property disclosure requirements for issuers whose securities are registered with the SEC under the Exchange Act, which became effective February 25, 2019. The SEC Modernization Rules more closely align the SEC’s disclosure requirements and policies for mining properties with current industry and global regulatory practices and standards, including NI 43-101, and replace the historical property disclosure requirements for mining registrants that were included in SEC Industry Guide 7. Issuers were required to comply with the SEC Modernization Rules in their first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021. As a foreign private issuer that is eligible to file reports with the SEC pursuant to the multi-jurisdictional disclosure system, the Corporation is not required to provide disclosure on its mineral properties under the SEC Modernization Rules and will continue to provide disclosure under NI 43-101 and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, mineral reserve and mineral resource information contained or incorporated by reference herein may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by United States companies subject to the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.
As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC now recognizes estimates of “measured mineral resources”, “indicated mineral resources” and “inferred mineral resources.” In addition, the SEC has amended its definitions of “proven mineral reserves” and “probable mineral reserves” to be “substantially similar” to the corresponding CIM Definition Standards that are required under NI 43-101. While the SEC will now recognize “measured mineral resources”, “indicated mineral resources” and “inferred mineral resources”, U.S. investors should not assume that all or any part of the mineralization in these categories will be converted into a higher category of mineral resources or into mineral reserves without further work and analysis. Mineralization described using these terms has a greater amount of uncertainty as to its existence and feasibility than mineralization that has been characterized as reserves. Accordingly, U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any measured mineral resources, indicated mineral resources, or inferred mineral resources that the Company reports are or will be economically or legally mineable without further work and analysis. Further, “inferred mineral resources” have a greater amount of uncertainty and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. Therefore, U.S. investors are also cautioned not to assume that all or any part of inferred mineral resources will be upgraded to a higher category without further work and analysis. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of “inferred mineral resources” may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. While the above terms are “substantially similar” to CIM Definitions, there are differences in the definitions under the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definition Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral reserves or mineral resources that the Company may report as “proven mineral reserves”, “probable mineral reserves”, “measured mineral resources”, “indicated mineral resources” and “inferred mineral resources” under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the reserve or resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules or under the prior standards of SEC Industry Guide 7.
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This press release contains “forward-looking statements”, within the meaning of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business, operations and financial performance and condition of Sandstorm Gold Royalties. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the timing of the completion of the Disposition, the Company potentially exercising the Entrée Warrants and the Company’s future intentions with respect to acquiring, disposing or holding its securities of Entrée. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, “plans”, or similar terminology.
Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Sandstorm Gold Royalties to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which Sandstorm Gold Royalties will operate in the future, including the receipt of all required approvals, the price of gold and copper and anticipated costs. Certain important factors that could cause actual results, performances or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, amongst others, failure to receive necessary approvals, changes in business plans and strategies, market conditions, share price, best use of available cash, gold and other commodity price volatility, discrepancies between actual and estimated production, mineral reserves and resources and metallurgical recoveries, mining operational and development risks relating to the parties which produce the gold or other commodity the Company will purchase, regulatory restrictions, activities by governmental authorities (including changes in taxation), currency fluctuations, the global economic climate, dilution, share price volatility and competition.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: the impact of general business and economic conditions, the absence of control over mining operations from which the Company will purchase gold, other commodities or receive royalties from, and risks related to those mining operations, including risks related to international operations, government and environmental regulation, actual results of current exploration activities, conclusions of economic evaluations and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, risks in the marketability of minerals, fluctuations in the price of gold and other commodities, fluctuation in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, stock market volatility, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled “Risks to Sandstorm” in the Company’s annual report for the financial year ended December 31, 2021 and the section entitled “Risk Factors” contained in the Company’s annual information form dated March 31, 2022 available at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained or incorporated by reference, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.