Silver Wheaton tops up treasury (January 16, 2006)

Vancouver — Silver Wheaton‘s (SLW-T, SLW-X) planned $80-million bought deal equity financing was boosted yet again, to $100 million, after the underwriters exercised their “greenshoe option” to acquire additional units.

The underwriting syndicate, led by GMP Securities, and including Scotia Capital, Haywood Securities and Fort House, purchased 15,625,000 Silver Wheaton units at $6.40 apiece. Units consist of a common share plus half a Series B share purchase warrant, with each full warrant exercisable at $10.00 for five years. The warrants will be listed on the TSX under symbol (slw.wt.b-t)

Silver Wheaton is the only pure silver producer, deriving all of its revenue from silver production. Expected 2005 silver sales are about 9.5 million oz. at cash costs of US$3.90 per oz.

The company posts a $1.2-billion market capitalization given its 183 million shares outstanding and recent $6.30-per-share trading level.