Osisko Bermuda Ltd has partnered with Franco-Nevada (Barbados) Corporation to enter into a definitive purchase and sale agreement with Australia's SolGold plc and certain of its wholly-owned subsidiaries with reference to gold production from SolGold’s 100 per cent owned Cascabel copper-gold project in Ecuador.

Osisko Bermuda is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Montreal-based Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd, which also holds a 0.6 per cent net smelter return royalty on Cascabel, which it purchased from SolGold in 2022.

OBL and FNB will make initial deposits totalling $100 million to SolGold in three equal tranches to fund the project’s pre-construction costs. The first tranche of the pre-construction deposit will be funded at closing, with the two subsequent tranches subject to the achievement of key development milestones.

Thereafter, the stream purchasers will make additional deposits totalling $650 million to SolGold to fund construction costs once the project is fully financed and further de-risked.

OBL will provide 30 per cent of the deposit in exchange for a 30 per cent interest in the gold stream and FNB will provide 70 per cent of the deposit in exchange for a 70 per cent interest in the gold stream.

Jason Attew, president and CEO of Osisko, said: “Cascabel is a world-class copper-gold project that has the potential to become a multigenerational mine.

"SolGold’s focus on sustainable development has generated very strong support from the Government of Ecuador and the local communities near the project.

"This new stream investment, which complements Osisko’s existing royalty on Cascabel, further enhances Osisko’s peer-leading growth profile at an attractive rate of return.

“We are excited to be partnering with Franco-Nevada to continue to support SolGold and the development of this exceptional asset.”

The project is located in the Imbabura province of northern Ecuador, approximately 62 miles north of the capital city of Quito and 31 miles north-northwest of the provincial capital of Ibarra.