RIO's new JV with Codelco for the Maricunga project is unfathomable. $1.4B commitment to the project for 50% in a JV
This is the same project LPI once owned (50%) and sold to Codelco back in September 2023
Just to give some GLN context:
- LPI was taken over (their sole asset a 50% interest in the Maricunga project) for $385M
- This represented a 119% premium to their ~ $175M market cap
- GLN at the same time had a ~$240M market cap
Rough peer-to-peer valuation for us based on this sale would have been ~
$530MSo 37% higher.
20 months later, we pump $120M into our project (HMW) and have a market cap of $95M.
20 months later Maricunga gets a 50% commitment for $1.4B
For equivalency purposes, this would equate to a $960M JV for us...right now
I could go on further to say we are also now fully permitted and have an export licence. Maricunga doesn't appear to have any work completed on it since the 2023/24 sale - it's currently unpermitted.
I must be missing something here? This seems absolutely bizarre.
(20min delay)