Rio Tinto PLC

M&A Activity • Aug 2, 2022

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

RNS Number : 5814U

Rio Tinto PLC

02 August 2022

2 August 2022

Rio Tinto completes sale of Cortez Gold Royalty for $525 million in cash

Rio Tinto has completed the sale of a royalty it holds on an area including the Cortez mine operational area and the Fourmile development project in Nevada (the "Cortez Complex") to RG Royalties LLC, a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of Royal Gold Inc., for $525 million in cash.

The Cortez Royalty is a 1.2%[1] gross production royalty on (i) the Cortez gold mine that is operated by Nevada Gold Mines, a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corporation ("Barrick") and Newmont Corporation; and (ii) the Fourmile project which is 100% owned and operated by Barrick. Rio Tinto obtained the royalty as partial consideration for the sale of its 40% interest in the Cortez Complex to Barrick in 2008. Royalty payments commence once the Cortez Complex has produced a total of 15 million ounces of gold since 2008. This is expected to occur imminently.

Rio Tinto Chief Financial Officer Peter Cunningham said: "This transaction unlocks hidden value from our portfolio and releases cash immediately."

[1] Royalty calculated as 1.2% at current gold prices. The royalty rate is determined based on a scale from 0% at gold prices less than US$400/oz up to 3% at gold prices greater than $900/oz, calculated on 40% of the production from the undivided Cortez Complex land package.

Contacts	Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Media Relations, UK Illtud Harri M +44 7920 503 600 Matthew Klar M+ 44 7796 630 637 David Outhwaite M +44 7787 597 493 Media Relations, Americas Simon Letendre M +514 796 4973 Malika Cherry M  +1 418 592 7293 Investor Relations, UK Menno Sanderse M: +44 7825 195 178 David Ovington M +44 7920 010 978 Clare Peever M +44 7788 967 877	Media Relations, Australia Jonathan Rose M +61 447 028 913 Matt Chambers M +61 433 525 739 Jesse Riseborough M +61 436 653 412 Investor Relations, Australia Amar Jambaa M +61 472 865 948
Rio Tinto plc 6 St James's Square London SW1Y 4AD United Kingdom T +44 20 7781 2000 Registered in England No. 719885	Rio Tinto Limited Level 7, 360 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 Australia T +61 3 9283 3333 Registered in Australia ABN 96 004 458 404

This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tinto's Group Company Secretary.

riotinto.com

---

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

END

DISGSGDICDGDGDD