Key Funds Source For Miners Depleted
December 29 2015 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
(FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL 12/29/15)
By Tatyana Shumsky
For struggling mining companies, an important source of
financing is growing scarce.
Contending with falling profits and hefty debt payments, mining
firms such as Glencore PLC and Vale SA this year increasingly
turned for cash to specialist lenders who pay large lump sums in
exchange for metal deliveries.
But companies that provide the vast majority of this kind of
financing through "streaming deals" are running low on capital
after striking a record $4.07 billion worth of deals in 2015,
nearly quintuple the level in 2014.
"We just don't feel the pressure that we need to go out and
duplicate our efforts that we did in 2015," said Tony Jensen, chief
executive of Denver-based Royal Gold Inc., one of the big streaming
companies. He said the company has about $450 million available for
new loans. That compares with about $1.3 billion for 2015,
according to estimates by Canaccord Genuity, a financial-services
firm.
Canadian streaming company Silver Wheaton Corp. in November paid
Glencore $900 million in exchange for 33.5% of silver production
from the Antamina copper mine in Peru. The cash infusion helped
Glencore pay down its debt and stave off investor ire that had
triggered big swings in the company's share price.
Silver Wheaton, though, doesn't currently have capacity for
another blockbuster deal, said its chief executive, Randy
Smallwood. The company has roughly $500 million left in its line of
credit after doubling it to $2 billion earlier this year and is
reluctant to sell stock or get deeper into debt, he said. Mr.
Smallwood said he expects profits from operations to add an
additional $500 million to Silver Wheaton's arsenal by the end of
2016.
Silver Wheaton is studying sharing its deals with others in a
process called syndication, but "we're not quite convinced it's the
best thing for us yet," Mr. Smallwood said.
Silver Wheaton, Royal Gold and Canada's Franco-Nevada Corp. will
start 2016 with an estimated $1.4 billion to deploy, according to
an analysis of the companies' financial statements by Canaccord
Genuity analyst Peter Bures. That compares with an estimated $4.7
billion on hand in the first quarter of 2015. A representative of
Franco-Nevada declined to comment. Mr. Bures said those three
companies account for more than 80% of lending capacity.
"It's not a bottomless pit, they've pretty much used up their
capacity," said John Bridges, mining analyst with J.P. Morgan Chase
& Co.
The drop in lending capacity reduces mining companies' lifelines
as they contend with a protracted downturn. Tumbling metal prices
and plentiful supply of everything from iron ore and copper to
nickel and coal have reduced profits and mining companies' ability
to repay debts.
Meanwhile, traditional avenues for raising cash, like bond or
stock sales, have essentially closed to all but the most
well-capitalized mining firms.
Glencore's troubles this year have been emblematic. Glencore's
shares have plunged 66% in 2015 on worries about its credit rating
and ability to service its debt. Glencore declined to comment.
Glencore's management has previously assured investors of the
company's ability to pay its debts and has put mines and other
assets up for sale to reduce debt. It also has said it might do
more streaming deals in 2015.
Vale in March sold 25% of the gold produced by its Salobo copper
mine in Brazil to Silver Wheaton for $900 million, doubling the
streaming company's share of the mine's gold output. The deal
buttressed Vale's balance sheet when the price of iron ore, the
company's main product, tumbled to decade lows. The streaming deal
helped put a value on the gold in the copper mine that the market
hadn't previously recognized, said Vale spokeswoman Patricia
Malavez.
Streaming companies use the proceeds from share sales and
borrowings from bank credit lines to provide financing to mining
firms. The streaming company pays the miner a large sum upfront. In
exchange, the company receives the right to buy, at below-market
prices, a portion of the precious metals that usually come out of
the ground during the mining of industrial metals.
Streaming companies often have the right for the life of the
mine, meaning that they continue to get deliveries of metals long
after they have recouped their upfront payment.
Executives at streaming companies said they are reluctant to
raise capital by selling shares, which have slid together with
precious-metals prices, and they already have hefty debt loads
themselves.
Other firms have started to test the market for streaming deals.
Blackstone Group LP's Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Orion
Mine Finance Group, an investment firm focused on the mining
sector, have this year teamed up on two streaming-finance deals
valued at a combined $790 million, according to company
filings.
"We're able to drive some spectacular deals," said Douglas
Silver, portfolio manager with Orion.
Still, the largest three companies are currently considered the
dominant source of future streaming deals.
"Mining is a capital-intensive business and at this point in
time the options for capital are scarce," said Andrew Kaip, analyst
with BMO Capital Markets.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 29, 2015 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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