Empress Royalty to Acquire Gold Stream Interest in Côte d'Ivoire's Tongon Gold Mine for US$62 Million

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 17, Canadian precious metals royalty and streaming company Empress Royalty announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Empress Royalty Holding Corp. has signed a metal stream purchase agreement with Appian Tongon Streamco Ltd. to acquire a gold stream interest in the Tongon gold mine in Côte d'Ivoire for US$62 million in cash. The Tongon gold mine is currently owned and operated by Atlantic Group.

Under the agreement, Empress will first receive 3.58% of Tongon's payable gold production until 400,000 ounces of gold have been cumulatively delivered from January 31, 2026; thereafter the rate drops to 2.93% until cumulative deliveries reach 600,000 ounces; after that, the stream rate further declines to 0.81% over the remaining approximately 29-year term of the agreement. For every ounce of gold Empress receives, it pays only 0.5% of the market price of gold at the time of delivery.

In addition to the US$62 million upfront payment, the seller may also receive contingent payments tied to future production. When deliveries after the closing of the agreement meet agreed conditions, US$40 per ounce will be paid, with a cumulative cap of US$19 million. The transaction is also accompanied by a US$75 million senior secured credit facility, of which US$55 million will be drawn at closing to partially fund the acquisition of the Tongon stream, with the remaining US$20 million available for subsequent royalty and stream acquisitions.

Tongon is located in the Birimian Senoufo greenstone belt of the West African Craton in northern Côte d'Ivoire. Its main mineralized systems include the North Zone and South Zone, both interpreted as gold skarn deposits. Satellite deposits such as Djinni, Mercator and Fonondara are also located in the surrounding area of the mining site, and several existing satellite pits are connected to the central processing facility via dedicated haul roads.

Atlantic Group completed the acquisition of the Tongon gold mine and related exploration assets from Barrick at the end of 2025. Barrick disclosed at the time that the total consideration for the transaction was up to US$305 million, including US$192 million in cash and shareholder loan repayments, plus up to US$113 million in contingent payments. After taking over, Atlantic continued to advance reverse circulation drilling, diamond drilling, auger drilling, geological mapping, lithogeochemistry and metallurgical testing to extend known mineralized zones and evaluate satellite deposits.

Upon completion of this transaction, Empress will enter West African gold assets for the first time and add Tongon, a producing gold mine, to its precious metals stream portfolio. As of the end of June 2026, the company held approximately US$21 million in cash, gold and silver assets; the new US$75 million credit facility will also replace its existing Nebari credit arrangement.