Altius Reports Settlement With Vale on Voisey’s Bay Royalty Dispute

Altius Minerals (TSX:ALS) has announced that it and Royal Gold (NASDAQ:RGLD) have entered into an agreement with Vale Canada (NYSE:VALE) and certain of its subsidiaries to comprehensively settle litigation related to calculation of the royalty in respect of all concentrates produced from the Voisey’s Bay mine in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

According to the release, the Voisey’s Bay 3 percent net smelter return royalty is directly owned by the Labrador Nickel Royalty Limited Partnership, of which Altius is a 10 percent owner. The remaining 90 percent interest in LNRLP is owned by a subsidiary of Royal Gold.

As quoted in the press release:

The parties agreed to a new method for calculating the royalty in respect of concentrates processed prospectively at Vale’s Long Harbour processing plant, which will be effective for all Voisey’s Bay mine production after April 1, 2018.  The specific terms of the settlement are confidential, but Altius expects the 3 percent royalty rate will apply to approximately 50 percent of the gross metal value in the concentrates at existing nickel, copper and cobalt prices, after accounting for acceptable processing and marketing related charges and metal recoveries.  As those metal prices rise or fall, the percentage of gross metal value in the concentrates applicable to the royalty would correspondingly increase or decrease.

Click here to read the full Altius Minerals (TSX:ALS) press release.