Wheaton Precious Metals Targets Larger Streaming Deals

Wheaton Precious Metals expects multi-billion-dollar streaming deals to become standard practice, CEO Haytham Hodaly said. This new strategy follows its $4.3 billion Antamina transaction, which elevated the company in mining finance. Wheaton plans to complete one such large deal annually over the next three to four years. Silver traded near $76 an ounce when the Antamina deal was made.

The company historically deployed about $1 billion per year on new streams. This year, it committed approximately $4.7 billion. Wheaton retains over $2.5 billion in capacity on its credit facility, supported by $2.7 billion in annual free cash flow. Production is expected to rise 50%, from 803,000 gold-equivalent ounces in 2025 to 1.2 million ounces by 2030.

Streaming offers investors protection from mining inflation. Once Wheaton funds a project and it passes a completion test, the company avoids capital and operating costs. While older agreements used fixed payments, newer deals now use a percentage of spot prices. This modestly increases Wheaton’s costs, such as 20% for every $100 rise in gold.

Wheaton reported record second-quarter revenue of $929 million. Operating cash flow increased 57% year-over-year to $650 million. The company raised its quarterly dividend 18% this year to 19.5 cents per share. Its portfolio is currently 52% gold and 48% silver, expected to shift to roughly 60% gold and 40% silver over five years.