Feb 17 (Reuters) – BHP Group on Tuesday entered a long-term silver streaming agreement with a unit of Wheaton Precious Metals for an upfront payment of $4.3 billion at completion.
BHP will deliver silver from its share of output at Peru’s Antamina mine, where it has a 33.75% investment in the mine’s operator, Compañía Minera Antamina S.A.
“Supported by strong silver market conditions, the agreement maximises shareholder value by unlocking capital from a non-core commodity that can be reallocated to BHP’s high-return growth projects and shareholder returns, consistent with our capital allocation framework,” BHP said.
Upon closing, Wheaton said it will receive a combined 67.5% of all the silver produced from Antamina, up from the 33.75% currently delivered under the existing Glencore silver stream.
“Quality silver production is becoming increasingly difficult to source while demand continues to rise for both critical industrial uses and for silver’s safe haven qualities in today’s economic environment,” said Randy Smallwood, chief executive officer of Wheaton Precious Metals.
(Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
