Equinox Gold (TSX: EQX; NYSE: EQX) has sold its Pilar gold mine in Brazil for US$38 million in cash as part of a portfolio optimization strategy that includes increasing its stake in the Greenstone project in Ontario, Canada.
As part of the deal, buyer Pilar Gold Inc. is also giving Equinox a 9.9% equity interest in the gold mine and a 1% net smelter returns royalty on production.
Pilar, a complex of producing underground mines in central Brazil's Goi??s State, accounts for about 5% of Equinox's previously reported 2021 production guidance of 600,000 to 665,000 ounces of gold.
Expected output targets will be updated in May, including to reflect the asset sale and the addition of the Mercedes operation in Mexico. Equinox annexed the mine when acquiring Premier Gold Mines in December.
"Equinox Gold has grown considerably over the last two years and the sale of the Pilar gold mine is a step toward optimizing our portfolio to focus on our larger production and development assets," CEO Christian Milau said in a press release.
The news coincides with Equinox's acquisition of a 10% additional interest in the Greenstone project in Ontario, for US$51 million. The move increased the Vancouver-based miner's stake in the fully-permitted, construction-ready project to 60%.
Greenstone, formerly known as Hardrock, is being advanced in a joint venture with Orion Mine Finance Group. It is expected to bring more than 240,000 attributable ounces of gold production to Equinox once in operation.