Canaccord Genuity upbeat on Atalaya's acquisition of investigation permits from Grupo Sacyr

Analysts at Canaccord Genuity said on Tuesday that Atalaya Mining's acquisition of 26 investigation permits across southern Spain had added to its "under-appreciated optionality".

Atalaya acquired the assets from Grupo Sacyr for a total consideration of €2.5m and a 1% net smelter return royalty on any future developments, with the permits covering both base and precious metal prospects, including an advanced stage copper-gold-iron project with a declared resource, and several other promising targets.

The Canadian bank stated that the permits' proximity to the company's Rio Tinto mine site indicated that the advanced areas held the potential to be developed as satellite deposits.

Canaccord also noted that Atalaya's latest acquisition added to an "already impressive list of growth options" that it believes was "underappreciated by the market", including the San Dionisio Cu-Zn deposit at Rio Tinto, the polymetallic Masa Valverde deposit, the advanced stage Touro project, and pthe rogression of a feasibility study on its E-LIX technology, which could economically produce copper cathode directly from sulphide ore.

"We believe that progress on these options has the potential to create significant upside for investors," said Canaccord, which maintained its 'buy' rating and 450.0p target price on the stock.