Jun 19 2020
Aquila Resources Inc. ("Aquila" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company and a subsidiary of Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd. ("Osisko") have entered into definitive agreements to amend certain terms of the gold purchase agreement dated November 8, 2017 (the "Gold Stream") and the amended and restated silver purchase agreement dated September 30, 2016 (the "Silver Stream") in order to accelerate Aquila's access to a portion of the outstanding funding under the Gold Stream and to provide additional flexibility.
Under the terms of the amendments, Osisko will immediately advance US$2.5 million (excluding transaction costs) of the remaining deposit under the Gold Stream to Aquila. Osisko will advance an additional US$7.5 million upon Aquila achieving certain corporate and project development milestones that are expected to be completed over the next 12 to 18 months.
Osisko has also agreed to adjust certain milestone dates under the Gold Stream and Silver Stream to align the streams with the current project development timeline.
In exchange for Osisko agreeing to make the payments and milestone date changes described above, the remaining deposit available to Aquila under the Gold Stream will be reduced from US$40 million to US$35 million, of which US$10 million is payable as described above, and the remaining US$25 million will be payable pro rata with drawdowns under a senior construction facility for the Company's Back Forty Project.
The designated Gold Stream percentage remains unchanged at 18.5% until the delivery of 105,000 gold ounces to Osisko, upon which the stream will be reduced to 9.25%. Osisko will continue to pay 30% of the gold spot price on delivery, subject to a maximum payment of US$600/oz. The Silver Stream will be amended to increase the designated silver stream percentage from 75% to 85% of the number of payable silver ounces produced from Back Forty with no change to the ongoing price of US$4/oz.
"This transaction provides Aquila with the certainty of funding necessary to enable us to continue to advance the Back Forty Project towards construction," said Barry Hildred, President and Chief Executive Officer of Aquila.
"In addition to providing the Company with capital to continue building on recent positive permitting developments, the stream amendments also provide us with the flexibility to advance the Back Forty Project on a schedule that reflects anticipated permitting, engineering, and financing timelines. I want to thank Osisko for their continued support of Aquila and the Back Forty Project."
Tax Update
The Company is also pleased to announce that the Canada Revenue Agency ("CRA") has ruled in its favor regarding two Notices of Objection that Aquila filed in connection with re-assessments of certain of its input tax credits.
As a result, the Company has received approximately US$685,000 from the CRA, including interest. Together with the US$2.5 million advance under the Gold Stream, the Company has received immediate funding of approximately US$3,185,000 (excluding transaction costs).
Advisors and Counsel
With respect to the stream amendments, Scotiabank acted as exclusive financial advisor to Aquila and McCarthy Tétrault LLP acted as legal counsel to Aquila.