Skeena Resources Ltd

The bought deal closed at C$143.8 million after the underwriters took their over-allotment in full - 5,991,500 shares at C$24.00 - for continued advancement of Eskay Creek.

capital raising announcement

A C$125 million bought deal, 5,210,000 shares at C$24.00 through a BMO-led syndicate with a 15% over-allotment option. The same release discloses an unanticipated permitting delay caused by the BC government employee strike and that the Tahltan impact benefits agreement ratification vote, expected within weeks, is affected - the first slippage disclosed in the permitting timetable.

capital raising announcement

Signed an interconnection and transmission agreement with Coast Mountain Hydro, partly owned by the Tahltan Nation, letting Eskay Creek tie into an existing line 17 kilometres away instead of building its own transmission infrastructure to reach the BC Hydro grid. The first tie-ins to the 287-kilovolt line are done.

material agreement

The Supreme Court of Canada refused Richard Mill and Orogenic Gold permission to appeal, so the Court of Appeal's July 2024 judgment for Skeena stands and the ownership question goes back to the Gold Commissioner for rehearing. Three years of litigation over the Albino Lake material end in Skeena's favour on the law, though the rehearing is still to come.

other

Closed a C$88.3 million bought deal: 3,290,000 shares at C$14.70 and 2,230,000 flow-through shares at C$17.93, with the over-allotment taken in full and BMO as sole bookrunner. Raised at more than double the C$6.05 of the September 2022 deal and the C$8.53 flow-through price of December 2023.

capital raising announcement

The first drilling ever done on KSP - 22 holes, 9,182 metres - found a gold-copper porphyry at Camp Porphyry, 5 kilometres from Snip, that previous operators had noticed but never drilled. CP-24-004 returned 0.71 g/t gold, 0.69 g/t silver and 0.03% copper over 381.47 metres of core length from 50 metres depth, including 1.07 g/t gold over 139.00 metres; CP-24-001 gave 0.62 g/t gold over 121.50 metres and CP-24-008 6.44 g/t gold with 0.23% copper over 7.61 metres. Traced about 1,000 metres of strike so far. True widths cannot be estimated, and this is bulk-tonnage porphyry grade - a different and much longer-dated proposition than Eskay Creek.

drilling result

Skeena drew US$45 million on 30 December 2024, the second of five tranches of the Orion gold stream, released once the bulk sample permit came through. The remaining three tranches are US$50 million each and must be drawn before 31 March 2026 subject to further conditions; Skeena can cut the stream by two-thirds for a year after project completion by repaying the deposit with an imputed 18% return.

debt financing

British Columbia approved extraction of a 10,000-tonne bulk technical sample at Eskay Creek, which authorises the 2025 development work and, more consequentially, satisfies the condition Orion attached to releasing the remaining US$195 million of its US$200 million gold stream. The environmental assessment application filed in mid-August 2024 has entered its 180-day statutory review.

regulatory community update

The BC Court of Appeal overturned both the Chief Gold Commissioner and the BC Supreme Court, finding that Skeena never relinquished its rights to the waste rock and tailings in the Albino Lake facility and that the Commissioner was "clearly and palpably wrong" to hold otherwise. Reverses the losses of February and November 2022 in the dispute with Richard Mill and Orogenic Gold.

other

Orion Resource Partners committed a US$750 million package covering Eskay Creek through construction: US$350 million of committed capital in a senior secured loan (1% standby fee, no break fee), a US$200 million gold stream buyable back up to 66.7% for a year after commercial production, a US$100 million equity investment above the five-day average share price, and a US$100 million cost-overrun facility structured as a second stream. Most of it is available before the mine is permitted, which is the point - but the loan is secured and the stream is a permanent claim on production, so the funding certainty is bought with claims that rank ahead of shareholders.

debt financing

The 2023 programme largely failed to repeat 2022. Thirteen near-mine holes found footwall mineralisation around the 22 Zone - SK-23-1203 at 19.87 g/t gold and 59.1 g/t silver over 2.95 metres was the best - but the company states outright that these are not expected to materially affect existing 22 Zone resources or reserves. At Eskay Deeps, eight holes and two wedges totalling 13,787 metres chasing the 2022 discovery hole SK-22-1081 hit only anomalous trace mineralisation in the target Contact Mudstone; the sole real intercept, SK-23-1182 at 3.92 g/t gold over 5.38 metres, sat 120 metres below that horizon. A seismic survey is planned for 2024 before further deep drilling.

drilling progress report

Franco-Nevada put up C$81 million: C$56 million for a further 1.0% net smelter royalty on Eskay Creek, taking its total royalty to 2.5% across all the Eskay ground, plus a C$25 million unsecured convertible debenture at 7% maturing on the earlier of December 2028 or completion of project financing. Management said plainly it is avoiding ordinary share issuance because the market for Canadian mine developers is difficult, and that the extra 1% royalty adds about US$20/oz to an all-in sustaining cost of US$687/oz.

capital raising announcement

The definitive feasibility study raised after-tax net present value to C$2.0 billion (5% discount, US$1,800 gold and US$23 silver) on reserves about 20% larger - 39.8 million tonnes containing 3.3 million ounces of gold and 88.0 million ounces of silver - with first five-year output of 455,000 ounces a year at 5.5 g/t AuEq. Pre-production capital rose to C$713 million from C$592 million and the return fell to 43% from 50%, so the higher value comes from more tonnes and a higher assumed gold price rather than better economics per ounce. The same filing carries a shareholder rights plan agreement with Computershare dated the same day - a takeover defence adopted alongside the study.

resource reserve update

Snip's indicated resource was restated at 823,000 ounces of gold at 9.35 g/t, a 579,000-ounce increase - 237% - on the 2020 estimate, with 114,000 inferred ounces at 7.10 g/t; recovery assumptions rose to 96% from 90%. Almost all of the gain is reclassification of historical drilling given confidence by Skeena's own 2021-22 holes rather than newly found metal, and the plan is to treat Snip as a satellite feeding the Eskay Creek mill.

resource reserve update

An updated resource estimate lifted Eskay Creek's pit-constrained measured and indicated resource 8% to 5.59 million ounces gold-equivalent (50.1 million tonnes at 3.47 g/t AuEq, being 4.14 million ounces of gold at 2.57 g/t and 102.5 million ounces of silver at 63.63 g/t), with a further 0.35 million ounces underground for the 5.9 million ounce headline. The more important change is confidence: measured material rose 23% and is now 73% of the pit resource, up from 63%, and inferred material is down to 40,000 ounces. It absorbs 278 new holes and 67,885 metres of the 2021-22 drilling.

resource reserve update

Hochschild walked away from its option to earn 60% of the Snip gold project, so Skeena takes back 100% and all of Hochschild's data since it declared its intent to earn in during October 2021. Hochschild had met the minimum spending requirement, meaning at least C$15 million went into Snip - a partner spending that much and then declining to proceed is as much a comment on Snip as regaining full ownership is a gain. Skeena says it will look at feeding Snip ore through the planned Eskay Creek mill.

material agreement termination

The last of the 2022 holes: SK-22-1132 returned 18.18 g/t gold and 130.2 g/t silver over 9.26 metres 25 metres below surface in 21A West, 75 metres up-dip of SK-22-1031, and SK-22-1177 gave 14.90 g/t gold over 5.70 metres. The 23 Zone produced a silver-dominant hit in SK-22-1187 (0.95 g/t gold with 1,003.3 g/t silver over 6.42 metres), and three holes in the 21E Zone ran 2.78 to 4.96 g/t gold over 20 to 26 metres. Closes out the programme that rebuilt the case for a bigger resource.

drilling result

Skeena sold Franco-Nevada a 0.5% net smelter royalty on Eskay Creek for C$27 million cash plus C$1.5 million contingent, signed and closed on 30 December 2022, and Franco-Nevada's right of first refusal was cancelled. This is the same half-royalty Skeena bought back from Barrick three months earlier for C$17.5 million, so the round trip netted about C$9.5 million and left the royalty burden where it started.

asset acquisition disposition

The BC Supreme Court dismissed Skeena's appeal, upholding the Chief Gold Commissioner's February ruling that Richard Mill, not Skeena, owns the minerals in the Albino Lake waste and tailings facility. Skeena said it would appeal again. The company notes the material is not in its resources, reserves or feasibility study economics - which is also why the 2021 drilling of that facility has not turned into anything.

other

SK-22-1054 found a new body of rhyolite-hosted mineralisation 200 metres east of the 22 Zone in ground with no historical drilling at all, grading 1.79 g/t gold and 32.0 g/t silver (2.15 g/t AuEq) over 40.67 metres from 23 metres depth. It sits outside the pit-constrained resource, the grade is modest against 21A West, and the geometry is unknown - it is one hole, open in all directions.

drilling result

Two more holes extended 21A West southwards inside the planned pit: SK-22-1131 returned 7.73 g/t gold and 16.8 g/t silver (7.91 g/t AuEq) over 17.20 metres starting 14 metres below surface, 35 metres from SK-22-1031, and SK-22-1103 a further 35 metres south gave 3.45 g/t AuEq over 21.80 metres and 5.46 g/t AuEq over 9.75 metres. All of it in material the 2022 study treated as waste.

drilling result

SK-22-1122 returned 20.43 g/t gold and 175.2 g/t silver (22.38 g/t AuEq) over 24.00 metres, including half a metre at 80.20 g/t gold and 2,790 g/t silver, 15 metres below the 48 g/t hole SK-22-1093 and only 60 metres below surface inside the planned pit. A second hole, SK-22-1095, found new mineralisation below the pit at 5.51 g/t AuEq over 20.60 metres. Like the rest of 21A West, this ground was carried as barren waste in the current reserve.

drilling result

The first deep hole ever drilled into the down-dip extension of the deposit found new rhyolite-hosted mineralisation 650 metres below the NEX Zone at 850 metres depth: SK-22-1081 returned 3.79 g/t gold and 59.4 g/t silver (4.46 g/t AuEq) over 32.19 metres, with narrow sub-intervals above 10 g/t AuEq. A single hole into a new area, opening the "Eskay Deeps" as an underground target rather than adding anything to the open pit.

drilling result

Infill hole SK-22-1090 extended 23 Zone mineralisation right to surface with 1.13 g/t gold and 6.6 g/t silver (1.20 g/t AuEq) over 96.02 metres, which would cut the waste-to-ore ratio of a future pit; SK-22-1071 gave 1.17 g/t AuEq over 109.82 metres and SK-22-1069 2.30 g/t AuEq over 26.50 metres. These are infill holes in a known zone, not new discoveries. From this release the gold-equivalent formula divides silver by 90 rather than 75, so quoted AuEq figures are slightly lower than earlier releases for the same assays.

drilling result

SK-22-1031 hit 2.21 g/t gold and 4.6 g/t silver (2.27 g/t AuEq) over 50.00 metres in the 21A West Zone, 75 metres along strike from the 48 g/t hole - ground the 2022 resource estimate and feasibility study had both modelled as barren waste rock because no one had ever drilled it. A separate hole, SK-22-1040, returned 0.79 g/t AuEq over 95.75 metres 500 metres south of the 23 Zone.

drilling result

Skeena paid Barrick C$17.5 million to buy back half of the 1.0% net smelter royalty granted when it acquired Eskay Creek, leaving Barrick with 0.5%. Franco-Nevada's right of first refusal over that repurchased half stays in place, subject to an auction Skeena must run before October 2023.

asset acquisition disposition

The bought deal closed at C$34.5 million after the underwriters took their over-allotment in full - 5,702,479 shares at C$6.05. The stated use of proceeds is to exercise the right to buy down Barrick's 0.5% net smelter royalty on Eskay Creek.

capital raising announcement

A C$30 million bought deal, 4,958,678 shares at C$6.05 through a Raymond James-led syndicate with a 743,801-share over-allotment option. The price is worth noting against the C$21.00 Franco-Nevada paid for flow-through shares nine months earlier.

capital raising announcement

The Eskay Creek feasibility study put after-tax net present value at C$1.41 billion (5% discount, US$1,700 gold and US$19 silver) with a 50.2% return and one-year payback on C$592 million of pre-production capital, from proven and probable open-pit reserves of 29.9 million tonnes containing 2.87 million ounces of gold and 75.5 million ounces of silver. It reports the pit at 3.87 g/t gold-equivalent diluted; the July 2021 prefeasibility study, on figures the company quotes in its own releases, showed a 4.57 g/t open-pit grade with the same C$1.4 billion value and a 56% return over a 1.4-year payback.

resource reserve update

The first 2022 results delivered SK-22-1093 in the 21A West Zone: 47.50 g/t gold and 73.4 g/t silver (48.48 g/t AuEq) over 12.12 metres, more than five times the grade of the 2021 discovery hole SK-21-997 in the same zone, inside the intended open pit and 75 metres north of it. Broader, lower-grade intercepts came from the East Flank (3.01 g/t AuEq over 17.66 metres, 1.68 over 31.30 metres) and the 23 Zone (1.33 g/t AuEq over 47.50 metres).

drilling result

The QuestEx deal closed on 1 June 2022 as structured: about C$18.7 million cash and 1.05 million Skeena shares to QuestEx holders, with Newmont paying about C$26 million for Heart Peaks, Castle, Moat, Coyote and North ROK. Skeena keeps KSP and Kingpin, the properties nearest Eskay Creek and Snip, and the cash cost was fully covered by the Newmont sale.

business combination

Skeena agreed to buy QuestEx Gold & Copper for C$0.65 cash plus 0.0367 of a Skeena share per QuestEx share, about C$48.6 million or C$1.20 a share, and simultaneously agreed to on-sell five of QuestEx's properties to Newmont for about C$27 million - enough to cover the entire cash half of the price. Net of that, Skeena pays roughly C$15 million in its own shares and its Golden Triangle land package grows nearly sevenfold to 84,889 hectares, keeping the ground next to Eskay Creek and Snip.

business combination

Barrick exercised the 2,812,500 warrants it received when it sold Eskay Creek to Skeena in October 2020, paying C$10.80 each for C$30.4 million of cash. The money funds a 60,000-metre 2022 drill programme - a skid-based start in April and eight helicopter-supported rigs from June - aimed at the new 21A West and 23 Zones and at the deep mudstone north of the old mine.

capital raising announcement

The final 2021 holes produced the discovery that mattered: SK-21-997 hit 8.78 g/t gold and 13 g/t silver (8.95 g/t AuEq) over 34.00 metres only 30 metres below surface and 60 metres west of the 21A pit-constrained resource - inside the pit outline of the 2021 prefeasibility study, so it is ore that costs nothing extra to reach. Lesser intercepts came from SK-21-983 (4.44 g/t AuEq over 11.73 metres) and SK-21-985 (2.39 g/t AuEq over 11.50 metres). This became the 21A West Zone.

drilling result

A genuinely new zone, the 23 Zone, was found 200 metres east of the high-grade 21A Zone and outside the current pit-constrained resource, starting only 15 metres below surface: SK-21-947 returned 2.14 g/t gold and 14.6 g/t silver (2.33 g/t AuEq) over 59.91 metres, SK-21-945 1.08 g/t AuEq over 90.00 metres and SK-21-946 1.72 g/t AuEq over 43.39 metres. Previous operators had drilled the ground in 1990 but sampled only selected intervals, which is why they missed it - a 1990 hole metres away reported just 1.97 g/t over 2.00 metres.

drilling result

The Franco-Nevada placement closed on 23 December 2021 for C$30.9 million gross, earmarked for Canadian exploration spending. The royalty right of first refusal was granted as described, and the two companies also amended their existing royalty agreement so it covers the same ground as Barrick's.

capital raising announcement

Franco-Nevada agreed to buy C$30.9 million of flow-through shares (1,471,739 at C$21.00) in a non-brokered placement, and in return got a right of first refusal over a 0.5% net smelter royalty on Eskay Creek - the same half that Skeena can buy back from Barrick for C$17.5 million until October 2022. If Skeena has not sold that royalty to anyone by 2 October 2023, Franco-Nevada can take it for C$22.5 million.

capital raising announcement

Twelve shallow air-rotary holes (212 metres in total) drilled from a barge on the Albino Waste Facility - the historic waste and tailings pond, not in-situ ore - returned 5.90 g/t gold and 317 g/t silver (10.13 g/t gold-equivalent) over 16.77 metres in SK-21-899 and 8.80 g/t AuEq over 13.72 metres in SK-21-903. Combined with the Phase I holes drilled earlier in 2021, twenty holes now average 13.20 metres thickness at 4.03 g/t gold and 163 g/t silver, over an area 350 by 125 metres; the rest of the facility is untested.

drilling result