Midas Gold changes its name, moves HQ to Boise, gets listed on Nasdaq Stock Market
Until Monday, it was Midas Gold, a Canadian mining company with a Boise subsidiary working to bring an old mine east of McCall back to life.
Now, in a nod to Idaho’s state motto, Midas’s owners have changed the company’s name to Perpetua Resources Corp. (“Esto Perpetua” is Latin for “Be Eternal”) after moving to Boise.
The company’s common shares have been approved for listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market, Perpetua said in a news release. The stock will begin trading “on or around” Thursday under the stock symbol PPTA.
“Today’s approval to list on the Nasdaq points to our growth and readiness to enter the next chapter of bringing the Stibnite Gold Project vision to life,” Laurel Sayer of Boise, the president and CEO, said in the release. “Our listing … will allow us greater access to capital, which will help our team move the Stibnite Gold Project from permitting into production.”
Perpetua is preparing to reopen and expand an open-pit gold mine that operated for a century, including during World War II, about 40 miles east of McCall near Yellow Pine. The company has estimated that it may be able to recover as much as 5 million ounces of gold, 7 million ounces of silver and 200 million pounds of antimony over 20 years.
Perpetua says the mine is one of the highest-grade gold deposits in the nation and would provide the only mined source of antimony in the U.S. Mining revenue will pay for the cleanup work, the company says.
The mining would create a promised 500 jobs on average for up to 25 years.
Midas has insisted that it will clean up pollution left by past mining. It hired Sayer — whose credentials include 10 years as U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson’s natural-resources director and three years as executive director of the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts — to help give its environmental efforts credibility.
But critics say new mining could damage the watershed even more. The Nez Perce Tribe is suing Midas Gold. The Idaho Conservation League says the company’s plans would reduce habitat for salmon and trout.
Midas disclosed last month that it was relocating its corporate headquarters from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Boise, and was exploring becoming an American company.
Perpetua shares also will trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange, where Midas already trades. Those shares closed Tuesday at $9.46 Canadian, down 4 cents. The company is valued at $450 million Canadian (about $355 million U.S.).
“We look forward to connecting with new investors, while delivering value to our long-term shareholders who have supported our vision for years,” Sayer said.
This story was originally published February 16, 2021 at 7:21 PM.
