History
Spun off from Paramount Gold and Silver in 2015, Paramount Gold Nevada bought Calico to gain Grassy Mountain, funded it with equity and debt, and reached a stronger 2026 feasibility study.
2015-2016: A spin-off and a new project
Paramount Gold Nevada Corp. began in April 2015, when it was spun off from Paramount Gold and Silver Corp. as an independent company listed on the NYSE MKT under the ticker PZG. The spin-off was tied to Coeur Mining's acquisition of the parent. Coeur put in $8.25 million of equity funding and bought a 4.9% stake for $1.47 million in cash. Former parent shareholders received the remaining 95.1% as a stock dividend. The company's base asset was the Sleeper Gold property in northern Nevada.
In March 2016 Paramount agreed to buy Calico Resources Corp., owner of the Grassy Mountain Gold Project in Oregon. The deal was all stock, at 0.07 Paramount shares for each Calico share. A preliminary proxy filed in April 2016 asked shareholders to approve issuing 7,171,209 shares. Holders of about 37.8% of Calico had already agreed to vote in favour. The deal closed in July 2016, with about 7.2 million shares issued, worth roughly $15.2 million. Shares on issue rose from 8,518,791 at the end of 2015 to 15,689,954 a year later.
2017-2019: Raising money to move Grassy Mountain
In October 2017 Paramount raised about $7.0 million through a public offering and a private placement to FCMI Parent Co. and Seabridge Gold, mainly for the Grassy Mountain pre-feasibility study and permitting.
In April 2019 Paramount sold Franco-Nevada a 2% royalty on Sleeper's output (a net smelter return royalty, a share of sales after smelting costs) for $2 million in cash. That funding did not dilute shareholders. In June it hired Ausenco to prepare a feasibility study (a detailed test of whether a mine is worth building) for Grassy Mountain, paying entirely in restricted stock held in escrow until the final study is delivered. In September it raised $5.34 million in senior secured convertible notes, which paid 7.5% interest, could be converted into shares at $1.00 and were secured on all company assets. It was the company's first use of secured debt.
2020-2024: A bridge loan and a refinancing
The record for 2020 and 2021 is quiet. In December 2022 Seabridge, which is linked to board chairman Rudi Fronk and held about 6.5% of Paramount, lent it $1.5 million in a 12% bridge loan maturing in under a year. In September 2023 Paramount amended the 2019 notes, extending maturity to September 2024 (or earlier if a Sprott financing closed) and raising the interest rate from 7.5% to 12%.
In January 2024 it closed a $15 million secured royalty convertible debenture from Sprott at 10% interest, secured against Grassy Mountain and Sleeper. The money funded Grassy Mountain permitting and repaid both the 2019 notes and the Seabridge loan. If converted, Sprott would hold a 4.75% gross revenue royalty on Grassy Mountain production.
2025-2026: A stronger study
The record for 2025 is quiet. In June 2026 Paramount released an updated feasibility study for Grassy Mountain. At $3,600 gold it showed an after-tax net present value of $374.7 million and an internal rate of return of 38.9%, up 228% and 72% respectively from the 2022 study. Recoverable gold rose 7% to 385,800 ounces and mine life extended to 9.3 years. State permitting approval is expected in the second half of 2026.
Written from the 13 story beats below (2015 to 2 June 2026), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.