History
Equinox Gold grew through the Leagold and Premier mergers, agreed to take Greenstone to full ownership, sold Brazil to cut debt, and in July 2026 merged with Orla Mining.
2019-2021: Merger and expansion
Equinox Gold began this record with two gold mines, Mesquite in California and Aurizona in Brazil, plus the Castle Mountain project in California. In December 2019 it agreed to merge with Leagold Mining. Shareholders approved the deal in January 2020 with more than 99% of votes cast on each side, and it closed on March 10, 2020. Leagold holders received 0.331 of an Equinox share per share, leaving the two groups with about 55% and 45% of the combined company. Equinox then described six producing mines, two development projects and two expansion projects. US$670 million of debt and equity financing was completed alongside, including a US$130 million convertible debenture paying 4.75% and maturing in March 2025.
Castle Mountain poured its first gold in October 2020 and reached commercial production in November. A Phase 2 study in March 2021 projected about 218,000 ounces a year for 14 years. At Los Filos in Mexico, a community blockade was lifted in November 2020 and a new agreement with the Carrizalillo community, running to April 2025, was signed in April 2021. A further blockade was removed in August 2021. In Brazil, the board approved building Santa Luz in late 2020.
In December 2020 Equinox agreed to buy Premier Gold Mines, and the deal closed in April 2021. It brought the Hardrock project in Ontario (renamed Greenstone), the Mercedes mine, and 30% of the new spin-out i-80 Gold. A C$75 million raising at C$10.00 a share closed alongside it. Equinox also bought a further 10% of Greenstone from Orion Mine Finance, lifting it to 60%. In 2021 it sold some Solaris Resources shares and the Pilar mine in Brazil, and in December agreed to sell Mercedes.
2022-2023: Building Greenstone
Santa Luz poured first gold on March 30, 2022 and declared commercial production on October 1. By then it had produced about 23,000 ounces, below the 70,000-90,000 ounce range cited earlier for 2022. The RDM mine in Brazil had its plant suspended from February 26 to March 14 over tailings dam water levels, and a tailings dam raise was approved in May. The Mercedes sale closed in April 2022 for US$75 million upfront, a US$25 million deferred payment, a 2% royalty and 24.73 million Bear Creek shares.
In July 2022 the bank facility was enlarged to a US$700 million revolver maturing in July 2026, to support the Greenstone build. A study for expanding Los Filos was released in October, but construction was not approved. Greg Smith became CEO on September 1, 2022, succeeding Christian Milau.
For 2022, Equinox produced 532,319 ounces at an all-in sustaining cost of $1,622 an ounce, with a net loss of $106.0 million. Year-end net debt was $627.3 million, and Greenstone was 65% complete. To raise cash it sold Solaris shares in December 2022 and January 2023 and issued 6,651,017 shares at an average $3.75 under an at-the-market program.
2024: Agreeing to buy full ownership of Greenstone
In April 2024, with Greenstone in hot commissioning, Equinox agreed to buy Orion's 40% for $995 million. Payment was 42.0 million shares valued at $250 million, $705 million in cash at closing and $40 million by December 31, 2024. The cash was to be funded by a new $500 million three-year term loan and a sale of 49,060,000 shares at $5.30, about $260 million. The term loan added debt, and the share issues diluted holders, in exchange for full ownership. Shares on issue rose from 318 million at the end of 2023 to 455 million at the end of 2024. The deal's 42.0 million and 49.06 million shares account for about 91 million of that rise, and the beats do not explain the rest. The filings seen do not confirm closing.
2025-2026: Selling Brazil and merging with Orla
The record for 2025 is thin, though shares on issue reached about 786 million by year end, a rise the beats do not explain. On January 23, 2026 Equinox completed the sale of its Brazil operations for US$1.015 billion in cash, repaying more than US$800 million of debt and cutting net debt to US$150 million. The buyer and mines were not named in the text seen. In February 2026 it announced its first quarterly dividend, US$0.015 a share, and applied for a share buyback, and described more than US$1.1 billion of debt reduction.
On May 12, 2026 Equinox signed an arrangement agreement with Orla Mining. Equinox shareholders approved it on July 22, and it closed on July 31, 2026, with Orla holders receiving one Equinox share per Orla share. At that date the combined company expected to produce 1.1 million ounces of gold a year, with a path to more than 1.9 million ounces from North American growth projects. The quarterly dividend was to rise to US$0.0225 from August 2026.
Written from the 35 story beats below (2019 to 31 July 2026), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.