BASE METALS

BHP to invest a further US$22M in SolGold

BHP increases stake in SolGold

Staff reporter

This article is 6 years old. Images might not display.

BHP will acquire 77 million shares at 22.15p a share, a 13% premium to the Friday closing price of 19.58p. Shares in SolGold opened strongly today, up more than 13% at 22.2p

The investment takes BHP's holding in SolGold to 282.7 million shares, and it will obtain 19.25 million options exercisable at 37p for five years as part of the investment.

BHP may also provide secondees for the technical effort for the completion a feasibility study the Cascabel copper-gold project in Northern Ecuador and regional exploration effort.

"The agreement endorses [our] view of SolGold's commanding Ecuadorean copper and gold exploration footprint, and in particular the robust Alpala deposit," said CEO Nick Mather.

SolGold released a preliminary economic assessment on the Alpala project in May and recently updated it to include wider metal price capex and opex ranges. The company is working on a prefeasibility study on Alpala for completion by end of the first quarter of 2020.

Expert-led Insights reports and Analytics tools built on robust data, rigorous analysis and expert commentary covering mining Risk, Projects, ESG, Leadership, and Investor Sentiment.

Expert-led Insights reports and Analytics tools built on robust data, rigorous analysis and expert commentary covering mining Risk, Projects, ESG, Leadership, and Investor Sentiment.

editions

Investor Sentiment Insights 2026

Discover what investors have planned for mining in 2026 in our industry-leading survey

editions

World Risk Insights 2025 (feat. MineHutte ratings)

A detailed analysis of mining investment risks across 120 jurisdictions globally, assessed across six risk categories and an industrywide survey.

editions

ESG Index 2025: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Index provides an in-depth evaluation of the ESG performance of 60+ of the world’s largest mining companies. It assesses companies across 10 weighted indicators within 6 essential ESG pillars.

editions

Leadership Insights 2025

Leadership Insights reveals key trends in priority mining issues through interviews with 15+ top mining company executives and an industrywide survey.