The president and CEO of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. is touting “very exciting times” ahead for his metals streaming company, and he says shareholders stand to benefit in the coming years as the company’s assets are set to grow.

Randy Smallwood spoke to BNN Bloomberg’s Andrew Bell on Monday about the outlook for his business, which offers financing to miners in exchange for discounted metals in the future.

“This is the first year of a real strong period of growth for Wheaton,” Smallwood said in an interview from the annual Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto.

Wheaton is set to report quarterly earnings on Thursday, but Smallwood looked further ahead as he discussed the company’s potential. 

Production capacity is due to increase at the expanded Vale-operated Salobo copper mine in Brazil this year, which Smallwood credited as Wheaton’s “biggest asset.”

Wheaton has also purchased a gold stream from the Gold & Silver Corp. gold mine in Nunavut, set to start production in 2025, and the executive said he’s excited about another Canadian mine, the Blackwater Gold Project in B.C., starting to produce gold “within a couple of years.”

Smallwood said the company’s strong balance sheet means “it should be able to afford to” pay shareholders back with higher dividends – though he said it’s his priority to direct profits towards corporate growth and acquisitions.

“If we can, we will be delivering it back to shareholders,” he said. “There’s only two places for it to go: into the ground, or back to shareholders.”

Smallwood said he’s confident shareholders will benefit regardless as the company expands.

“As we see this growth over the next four or five years, we know that dividend will climb with them,” he said.