Q1 2026 Trading Update
Q1 2026 portfolio contribution doubled to $12.3m, driven by base metals; net debt reduced to $84.4m.
- Portfolio contribution Q1 2026 $12.3m (prior $6.0m)
- Base metals contribution $8.3m (prior $3.3m)
- Voisey's Bay cobalt received 70 tonnes (prior 56 tonnes)
- Voisey's Bay cobalt average realised price $28.66/lb (prior $13.28/lb)
- Net debt $84.4m (prior $85.5m)
- Specialty metals & uranium contribution $2.3m (prior $1.7m)
Select text to share a quote on X · sign in to keep highlights & notes in your ECOR notes
Ecora (LSE/TSX: ECOR; OTCQX: ECRAF) issues the following trading update for the period 1 January to 31 March 2026.
Marc Bishop Lafleche, Chief Executive Officer of Ecora, commented:
"Q1 was a solid start to the year with total portfolio contribution up 105% v Q1 2025, primarily driven by the continued performance of the base metals portfolio which was up 152% v Q1 2025. Voisey's Bay production continued to ramp-up towards full capacity during Q1, although some of these volumes missed the quarter end due to shipping timelines. With 98 tonnes of cobalt set to be received in April, compared to 70 tonnes received in the entirety of Q1, and a resilient commodity price environment benefiting our wider portfolio, we are well positioned to deliver a strong Q2."
Financial Highlights:
- Portfolio contribution of $12.3m in Q1 2026, up 105% v Q1 2025 ($6.0m)
- Net debt at 31 March 2026 of $84.4m (31 December 2025: $85.5m)
Base Metals
- Base metals portfolio contribution of $8.3m, up 152% v Q1 2025 ($3.3m)
- Voisey's Bay
o 70 tonnes of attributable cobalt received in Q1 (Q1 2025: 56 tonnes) generating a 177% increase in net portfolio contribution of $3.6m (Q1 2025: $1.3m) at an average realised price of $28.66/lb (Q1 2025: $13.28/lb)
o Due to shipping timelines, a number of deliveries anticipated in Q1 have been deferred to Q2, with 98 tonnes of attributable cobalt set to be received in April. A further 56 tonnes are currently in transit
o FY 2026 attributable cobalt guidance is unchanged at 500-560 tonnes
Mimbula
o Net portfolio contribution of $2.1m (Q1 2025: n/a)
o Copper entitlement for Q1 2026 of 150 tonnes, generating Q2 2026 portfolio contribution of $1.4m (net of metal purchase costs)
Mantos Blancos
o Benefited from higher copper prices relative to Q1 2025 driving a portfolio contribution in Q1 2026 of $2.4m (Q1 2025: $1.8m)
Cañariaco Project
o In March 2026, Fortescue Ltd. completed the acquisition of the remaining 64% of Alta Copper Corp. shares not already owned by Fortescue. Alta Copper is the 100% owner of the Cañariaco copper project in Peru over which Ecora holds a 0.5% royalty
o Expected average annual production for the first ten years of 158ktpa of copper, 70koz of gold and 1.5Moz of silver
Specialty metals and uranium
- Specialty metals and uranium portfolio generated $2.3m of portfolio contribution, up 35% v Q1 2025 ($1.7m)
- Portfolio contribution from Four Mile of $1.1m (Q1 2025:$0.1m) reflecting normalised sales levels compared to Q1 2025 when the operator was stockpiling production
- Rainbow Rare Earths announced a $14.6m equity raise which will provide funds to cover the finalisation of the Phalaborwa definitive feasibility study in 2026. Subscribers included Traxys Group, one of the suppliers servicing Project Vault, the $12 billion strategic fund set up by the US government aiming to build a strategic critical minerals stockpile
Bulks & other
- Contribution from EVBC was up 112% v Q1 2025 at $1.7m, driven by the strong gold price environment
- As expected, there was no contribution from the Kestrel coal royalty. Mining was outside Ecora's private royalty area in Q1 and is not scheduled to return to it until Q3 2026
| Portfolio contribution: | Q1 2026 | Q1 2025 | Q4 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US$m | US$m | Q/Q | US$m | |
| Base metals | ||||
| Voisey's Bay (cobalt) | 4.4 | 1.6 | 6.5 | |
| Mantos Blancos (copper) | 2.4 | 1.8 | 3.1 | |
| Mimbula (copper) | 2.9 | n/a | 1.8 | |
| Carlota (copper) | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | |
| Metal stream cost of sales (1) | (1.6) | (0.3) | (1.7) | |
| Sub-total | 8.3 | 3.3 | 152% | 9.9 |
| Speciality metals & uranium | ||||
| McClean Lake (2) (uranium) | 0.8 | 1.2 | 0.7 | |
| Maracás Menchen (vanadium) | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | |
| Four Mile (uranium) | 1.1 | 0.1 | 0.7 | |
| Sub-total | 2.3 | 1.7 | 35% | 1.8 |
| Bulks & other | ||||
| Kestrel (steelmaking coal) | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.7 | |
| EVBC (3) (gold) | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.9 | |
| Other | - | 0.1 | - | |
| Sub-total | 1.7 | 1.0 | 70% | 2.6 |
| Total portfolio contribution | 12.3 | 6.0 | 105% | 14.3 |
1 Includes ongoing metal purchase costs under stream agreements, for Q1 2026 these were: Voisey's Bay ($0.8m); Mimbula ($0.8m)
2 In Q1 2026, principal repayment totalled $0.5m and interest received totalled $0.3m
Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.