Standard & Poor's Initiates Factual Stock Report Coverage on Silver Wheaton Corporation
NEW YORK--Standard & Poor’s announced today that it has commenced Factual Stock Report coverage on Silver Wheaton Corporation.
Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE, TSX:SLW) is a mining company which generates its revenue primarily from the sale of silver.
The company has 17 silver purchase agreements, with 14 operating mines and 3 development stage projects, whereby Silver Wheaton acquires silver production from the counterparties for a per ounce cash payment equal to the lesser of approximately $4 or the then prevailing market price, subject to inflationary adjustments. In addition, one of the agreements also includes gold production, at a per ounce cash payment of the lesser of $300 or the then prevailing market price, subject to inflationary adjustments. The primary drivers of the company's financial results are the volume of silver production at the various mines and the price of silver.
The company's silver and gold interests are located in Mexico, Canada, South America, Europe and the United States.
As of December 31, 2008, attributable proven and probable reserves totaled 860.5 million ounces of silver and 190,000 ounces of gold; attributable measured and indicated resources totaled 323.4 million ounces of silver and 270,000 ounces of gold; and attributable inferred resources totaled 463.6 million ounces of silver and 70,000 ounces of gold.
Silver Wheaton has an agreement with Goldcorp Inc. to acquire 100% of the silver produced by Goldcorp's Luismin mining operations in Mexico for a period of 25 years. The Luismin operations consist of the San Dimas mine, the Los Filos mine and the San Martin mine.
The company has an agreement to acquire 25% of the silver produced from Goldcorp's Penasquito mining operations in Mexico for the life of mine. On November 4, 2009, Goldcorp announced that it had commenced shipments of the first silver-bearing lead and zinc concentrates produced at its Penasquito mine.
The company has an agreement with Barrick Gold Corporation to acquire 25% of the life of mine silver production from its Pascua-Lama project, as well as 100% of the silver production from its Lagunas Norte,Pierina and Veladero mines until the end of 2013.
The company has an agreement with Lundin Mining Corp. to acquire 100% of the silver produced by Lundin's Zinkgruvan mining operations in Sweden for the life of mine.
The company has an agreement with Glencore International AG to acquire up to 4.75 million ounces of silver per year for a period of 20 years, based on the production from Glencore's Yauliyacu mining operations in Peru.
The company has an agreement with Hellas Gold S.A., a subsidiary of European Goldfields Ltd., to acquire 100% of the silver produced from Hellas Gold's Stratoni mining operations in Greece for the life of mine.
The company has an agreement with Farallon Resources Ltd. to acquire 75% of the silver produced from Farallon's Campo Morado property in Mexico for the life of mine.
On May 21, 2009, Silver Wheaton completed the acquisition of Silverstone Resources Corp. As part of the acquisition, the company acquired a silver and gold purchase agreement with Capstone Mining Corp. to acquire 100% of the silver and gold produced from Capstone's Minto mine in Canada for the life of mine. If gold production from the Minto mine exceeds 50,000 ounces in 2010, or 30,000 ounces per year thereafter, the company is entitled to purchase 50% of the amount in excess of those thresholds. The company also acquired a silver purchase agreement with Capstone to acquire 100% of the silver produced from Capstone's Cozamin mine in Mexico for a period of 10 years.
This report will also be accessible on an ongoing basis to the investment community by scores of buy-side institutions and sell-side firms that utilize S&P research and information platforms daily. Millions of self-directed investors also have access to the report via their e-brokerage accounts. Please visit www.silverwheaton.com for additional information.
About Standard & Poor's Factual Stock Reports
This Standard & Poor’s service provides factual research coverage enabling information about Silver Wheaton Corporation and other securities to reach a wide investor audience of Buy and Sell-side investors, helping them understand a company’s fundamentals and business prospects. Currently profiling over 500 issuers, S&P Factual Stock Reports increase market awareness for issuers in the investment community with insightful commentary and key statistics/information. Updated weekly with the latest pricing, trading volume, and other data, the reports include recent developments, a financial review, key operating information, Industry and peer comparisons, institutional holdings analysis, Street Consensus and opinions, performance charts, business summary, fundamental data, and news. Because coverage of these reports is sponsored by the issuer, S&P does not offer investment opinions concerning the advisability of investing in these stocks.
Standard & Poor’s Factual Stock Reports are produced separately from any other analytic activity of Standard & Poor’s. Standard & Poor’s Factual Report research has no access to non-public information received by other units of Standard & Poor’s. Standard & Poor’s does not trade on its own account.
Note: All U.S. and Canadian Companies listed on a National Exchange (not covered by S&P’s STARS research) are eligible to obtain this coverage.
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