Sunshine Silver weighs $400 million IPO to fund reopening of Idaho mine

Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining Corp. is pursuing an initial public offering to help reopen an Idaho mine, according to people familiar with the matter, adding to a pipeline of mining listings as elevated metals prices draw investor interest.

The US-based company is working with Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. A listing could raise about $400 million, said one of the people.

Deliberations are ongoing and details, including timing and size, could change. Representatives for Sunshine Silver, Electrum Group and Scotiabank didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for BMO declined to comment.

BMO’s pipeline of Canadian IPOs is the strongest since 2021 and includes several miners, the bank’s co-head of global equity capital markets Peter Miller said in emailed comments, while declining to comment on specific transactions.

North American mining companies are set to test investor appetite for new listings tied to metals that are experiencing surging demand. Other deals in the works include Lumina Metals Corp., which is marketing a roughly C$343.7 million Toronto IPO, Barrick Mining Corp.’s potential listing of its North American gold mines and McEwen Copper Inc., which aims to raise about $300 million in an IPO by year end for an Argentina project.

Sunshine Silver is trying to reopen and expand a defunct mine in Idaho’s Silver Valley, a prolific hub for the precious metal. The firm has invested more than $180 million into the project, expanding its land package and upgrading infrastructure in an effort to return the mine to production in 2028.

The company is co-owned by Electrum Group, a private investment firm focused on natural resources. It raised $75 million in September in a round led by an affiliate of Electrum, according to a statement at the time.

A listing would offer public-market investors exposure to a US-based silver asset when mining IPOs have been relatively scarce, while allowing existing shareholders a chance to cash out amid surging demand for the precious metal.

The price of silver, which has both industrial applications and serves as a investment, has soared in the past six months, hitting a record high above $121 an ounce in late January before retreating to current levels around $80 an ounce. The global silver market is expected to remain in a deficit for its sixth consecutive year amid robust demand for bars and coins and declining supplies, according to the Silver Institute.

(By Paula Sambo and Jacob Lorinc)