This week on The Investing, Markets & Money Podcast, we sit down with Brett Heath, President and CEO of Metalla Royalty & Streaming, to explore a fascinating and often misunderstood part of the mining investment world — royalty companies.
Heath, visiting from Canada, explains that Metalla’s model is built on a simple but powerful idea: buying mispriced optionality on some of the world’s most promising geological trends. In practice, that means acquiring small royalty interests — typically 1–3% — on mining assets across gold, silver, and copper projects. Once secured, these royalties entitle Metalla to a share of top-line revenue from the mine for life, without exposure to the heavy capital costs, operational risks, or dilution that miners face. “You get all the upside — exploration, expansion, and discovery — without the headaches,” Heath says.
Founded in 2016 with no assets and just a strong idea, Metalla has built an impressive portfolio of 100 royalties across 32 transactions, achieving a market capitalization of around US$700 million. The company’s lean structure — only six full-time employees — highlights the scalability of the royalty business model, where modest overheads can support significant cash flow generation.
Heath discusses how Metalla carved out its niche early on by targeting existing royalties held by third parties rather than competing head-to-head for new deals with better-capitalized rivals. That strategy allowed the company to build what he calls a “foundational portfolio” of high-quality assets operated by some of the biggest mining companies in the world.
Metalla Royalty’s investment in the Côté–Gosselin project
One standout example is Metalla’s investment in the Côté–Gosselin project in Canada, operated by IAMGOLD. Metalla purchased a 1.35% royalty over part of the site for US$6 million. Five years later, new discoveries have pushed estimated reserves to 7.4 million ounces of gold, with production now underway and more drilling due to update those numbers in 2026. The royalty could ultimately generate around US$250 million in lifetime revenue — a striking illustration of the “mispriced optionality” thesis at work.
While two-thirds of Metalla’s exposure is to gold and silver, the company has added copper to its mix, reflecting its bullish view on the metal’s long-term demand. Heath also emphasizes the importance of diversification — across jurisdictions (North and South America, Australia) and operators — to mitigate geopolitical and operational risks.
Looking ahead, Heath says the company is in a different phase of the cycle. After eight years of heavy deal activity, Metalla has paused new acquisitions, focusing instead on letting its portfolio mature into production and generate cash flow. With that cash flow will come access to credit and the ability to scale further — potentially into a multi-billion-dollar business.
For investors, royalty companies like Metalla offer a unique way to gain leveraged exposure to metals prices without the risks of mine development or operation. As Heath puts it, “That’s the power of the royalty business — you own the upside, not the downside.”
Metalla Royalty & Streaming trades on the NYSE and TSX under the ticker MTA.
Watch: Brett Heath, President and CEO of Metalla Royalty & Streaming
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Podcast Chapters
00:00 Intro to Metalla Royalty and how royalty companies work
03:51 Hanging on to portfolio companies
05:09 How Metalla sources investments
07:45 Metalla’s plans for the next year or two
12:49 Spread of gold, silver and copper companies
13:58 Operational and downside risks
18:16 Criteria for new investments
23:20 Commodity cycle outlook and growing the business
26:56 How do mining companies pay – cash or bullion?
31:24 Can production satisfy projected demand?
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