Amerigo Resources Ltd. (TSX: ARG; OTCQX: ARREF)
(“Amerigo” or the “Company”) is pleased to declare the Company’s
first Performance Dividend.
“We are very pleased to report that Amerigo has
declared its first Performance Dividend of Cdn$0.04 per share. This
initial Performance Dividend provides significant, immediate, and
additional investment returns to shareholders. It also demonstrates
Amerigo’s unique ability to share the benefit of strong copper
prices with investors promptly,” said Aurora Davidson, Amerigo’s
President and CEO. “With this first Performance Dividend, Amerigo
has now deployed all three tools in the Company’s comprehensive
Capital Return Strategy3.”
“The strong copper prices we experienced last
quarter confirmed our long-standing view on the strength of copper
supply and demand fundamentals. The positive impact of these recent
copper prices also demonstrated Amerigo’s ability to generate
substantial excess cash for shareholders. This is possible because
of Amerigo’s excellent operating performance and low debt and
capital requirements. This combination is powerfully and
predictably generating a strong Return on Invested Capital for the
Company and shareholders,” she added.
“In less than a quarter, our cash reserves have
reached targeted levels, allowing more than the equivalent of an
additional quarterly dividend to be paid to shareholders. Amerigo’s
Performance Dividend is a flexible mechanism with regard to timing,
frequency and the amount of capital returned to shareholders. We
look forward to a strong second half of 2024.”
On July 8, 2024, Amerigo’s Board of Directors
declared its first Performance Dividend. The dividend will be in
the amount of Cdn$0.04 per share, payable on August 6, 2024, to
shareholders of record as of July 16, 20241. Amerigo designates the
entire amount of this taxable dividend to be an “eligible dividend”
for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada), as amended from time
to time. Based on Amerigo’s June 30, 2024, share closing price of
Cdn$1.55, this Performance Dividend, along with the Company’s
quarterly dividends of Cdn$0.03 per share, represents an annual
dividend yield of 10.3%2.
Capital Return Strategy
Since implementing its Capital Return Strategy
(the “Strategy”) in September 2021, Amerigo has paid cumulative
quarterly dividends of Cdn$0.32 per share ($40.5 million) and used
$23.7 million to purchase and cancel 20.1 million of its common
shares, a 11.1% reduction in the number of common shares
outstanding at the inception of the Strategy.
With the declaration of the Company’s first
Performance Dividend, the three legs of the Strategy (quarterly
dividends, performance dividends, and share buybacks) are now fully
deployed. Amerigo’s Performance Dividend is a flexible mechanism
with regard to timing, frequency and the amount of capital returned
to shareholders. It is ideally suited to return capital to
shareholders quickly and is a unique tool to transfer the benefits
of solid copper price performance to Amerigo’s shareholders.
1 |
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Dividend dates |
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A dividend of Cdn$0.04 per share will be paid on August 6, 2024, to
shareholders of record as of July 16, 2024. Under the “T+1
settlement cycle”, the Company’s shares will commence trading on an
ex-dividend basis at the opening of trading on July 16, 2024.
Shareholders purchasing Amerigo shares on the ex-dividend date or
after will not receive this dividend, as it will be paid to selling
shareholders. Shareholders purchasing Amerigo shares before the
ex-dividend date will receive the dividend. |
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2 |
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Dividend yield |
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The disclosed annual yield of 10.3% is based on the Performance
Dividend of Cdn$0.04 per share disclosed in this news release and
the four quarterly dividends of Cdn$0.03 per share each, divided
over Amerigo’s June 30, 2024 closing share price of Cdn$1.55. |
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3 |
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Capital returned to shareholders |
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The table below summarizes the capital returned to shareholders as
of this news release since Amerigo’s Capital Return Strategy was
implemented in October 2021. |
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(Expressed in millions) |
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Shares repurchased |
Dividends Paid |
Total |
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$ |
$ |
$ |
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2021 |
8.9 |
2.8 |
11.7 |
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2022 |
12.3 |
15.7 |
28.0 |
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2023 |
2.5 |
14.6 |
17.1 |
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2024 |
- |
7.4 |
7.4 |
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23.7 |
40.5 |
64.2 |
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About Amerigo and MVC
Amerigo Resources Ltd. is an innovative copper
producer with a long-term relationship with Corporación Nacional
del Cobre de Chile (“Codelco”), the world’s largest copper
producer.
Amerigo produces copper concentrate and
molybdenum concentrate as a by-product at the MVC operation in
Chile by processing fresh and historic tailings from Codelco’s El
Teniente mine, the world's largest underground copper mine. Tel:
(604) 681-2802; Web: www.amerigoresources.com; Listing: ARG:
TSX.
Contact Information |
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Aurora Davidson |
Graham Farrell |
President and CEO |
Investor Relations |
(604) 697-6207 |
(416) 842-9003 |
ad@amerigoresources.com |
Graham.Farrell@Harbor-Access.com |
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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Information
This news release contains certain
forward-looking information and statements defined in applicable
securities laws (collectively called "forward-looking statements").
These statements relate to future events or the Company’s future
performance. All statements other than statements of historical
fact are forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words
"anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may",
"will", "project", "predict", "potential", "should", "believe" and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, statements concerning:
- forecasted production and operating
costs;
- our strategies
and objectives;
- our estimates of the availability
and quantity of tailings and the quality of our mine plan
estimates;
- the sufficiency of MVC’s water
reserves to maintain projected historic tailings tonnage processing
for at least 18 months;
- prices and price
volatility for copper, molybdenum and other commodities and
materials we use in our operations;
- the demand for
and supply of copper, molybdenum and other commodities and
materials that we produce, sell and use;
- sensitivity of
our financial results and share price to changes in commodity
prices;
- our financial
resources and financial condition and our expected ability to
redeploy other tools of our capital return strategy;
- interest and
other expenses;
- domestic and foreign laws affecting
our operations;
- our tax position
and the tax rates applicable to us;
- our ability to comply with our loan
covenants;
- the production capacity of our
operations, our planned production levels and future
production;
- potential impact of production and
transportation disruptions;
- hazards inherent
in the mining industry causing personal injury or loss of life,
severe damage to or destruction of property and equipment,
pollution or environmental damage, claims by third parties and
suspension of operations
- estimates of asset retirement
obligations and other costs related to environmental
protection;
- our future capital and production
costs, including the costs and potential impact of complying with
existing and proposed environmental laws and regulations in the
operation and closure of our operations;
- repudiation, nullification,
modification or renegotiation of contracts;
- our financial
and operating objectives;
- our environmental, health and
safety initiatives;
- the outcome of
legal proceedings and other disputes in which we may be
involved;
- the outcome of negotiations
concerning metal sales, treatment charges and royalties;
- disruptions to the Company's
information technology systems, including those related to
cybersecurity;
- our dividend
policy, including the security of the quarterly dividends and our
Capital Return Strategy; and
- general business
and economic conditions, including, but not limited to, our
assessment of strong market fundamentals supporting copper
prices.
These forward-looking statements involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results or events to differ materially from those
anticipated in such statements. Inherent in forward-looking
statements are risks and uncertainties beyond our ability to
predict or control, including risks that may affect our operating
or capital plans; risks generally encountered in the permitting and
development of mineral projects such as unusual or unexpected
geological formations, negotiations with government and other third
parties, unanticipated metallurgical difficulties, delays
associated with permits, approvals and permit appeals, ground
control problems, adverse weather conditions, process upsets and
equipment malfunctions; risks associated with labour disturbances
and availability of skilled labour and management; risks related to
the potential impact of global or national health concerns;
government or regulatory actions or inactions; fluctuations in the
market prices of our principal commodities, which are cyclical and
subject to substantial price fluctuations; risks created through
competition for mining projects and properties; risks associated
with lack of access to markets; risks associated with availability
of and our ability to obtain both tailings from Codelco’s Division
El Teniente’s (“DET”) current production and historic tailings from
tailings deposit; the availability of and ability of the Company to
obtain adequate funding on reasonable terms for expansions and
acquisitions; mine plan estimates; risks posed by fluctuations in
exchange rates and interest rates, as well as general economic
conditions; risks associated with environmental compliance and
changes in environmental legislation and regulation; risks
associated with our dependence on third parties for the provision
of critical services; risks associated with non-performance by
contractual counterparties; risks associated with supply chain
disruptions; title risks; social and political risks associated
with operations in foreign countries; risks of changes in laws
affecting our operations or their interpretation, including foreign
exchange controls; and risks associated with tax reassessments and
legal proceedings. Many of these risks and uncertainties apply to
the Company and its operations, as well as DET and its operations.
DET’s ongoing mining operations provide a significant portion of
the materials the Company processes and its resulting metals
production. Therefore, these risks and uncertainties may also
affect the Company's operations and have a material effect.
Actual results and developments will likely
differ materially from those expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements in this news release. Such statements
are based on several assumptions which may prove to be incorrect,
including, but not limited to, assumptions about:
- general business and economic
conditions;
- interest and currency exchange
rates;
- changes in commodity and power
prices;
- acts of foreign governments and the
outcome of legal proceedings;
- the supply and demand for,
deliveries of, and the level and volatility of prices of copper,
molybdenum and other commodities and products used in our
operations;
- the ongoing supply of material for
processing from DET’s current mining operations;
- the grade and projected recoveries
of tailings processed by MVC;
- the ability of the Company to
profitably extract and process material from historic tailings
deposits;
- the timing of the receipt of and
retention of permits and other regulatory and governmental
approvals;
- our costs of production and our
production and productivity levels, as well as those of our
competitors;
- changes in credit market conditions
and conditions in financial markets generally;
- our ability to procure equipment
and operating supplies in sufficient quantities and on a timely
basis;
- the availability of qualified
employees and contractors for our operations;
- our ability to attract and retain
skilled staff;
- the satisfactory negotiation of
collective agreements with unionized employees;
- the impact of changes in foreign
exchange rates and capital repatriation on our costs and
results;
- engineering and construction
timetables and capital costs for our expansion projects;
- costs of closure of various
operations;
- market competition;
- tax benefits and tax rates;
- the outcome of our copper
concentrate sales and treatment and refining charge
negotiations;
- the resolution of environmental and
other proceedings or disputes;
- the future supply of reasonably
priced power;
- rainfall in the vicinity of MVC
continuing to trend towards normal levels;
- average recoveries for fresh and
historic tailings;
- our ability to obtain, comply with
and renew permits and licenses in a timely manner; and
- our ongoing relations with our
employees and entities with which we do business.
Future production levels and cost estimates
assume no adverse mining or other events significantly affecting
budgeted production levels.
Although the Company believes that these
assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions
are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and
contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are
beyond the Company’s control, the Company cannot assure that it
will achieve or accomplish the expectations, beliefs or projections
described in the forward-looking statements.
The preceding list of important factors and
assumptions is not exhaustive. Other events or circumstances could
cause our results to differ materially from those estimated,
projected, and expressed in or implied by our forward-looking
statements. You should also consider the matters discussed under
Risk Factors in the Company`s Annual Information Form. The
forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the
date of this news release. Except as required by law, we undertake
no obligation to revise any forward-looking statements or the
preceding list of factors, whether due publicly or otherwise, to
new information or future events.
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