By Nicole Mordant
VANCOUVER, July 27 (Reuters) - Goldcorp Inc G.TO is looking to sell royalties it owns on a number of mining projects it has sold in recent years, its chief executive said on Thursday, as the Canadian gold miner nears the end of a series of non-core asset sales.
Goldcorp, which is the world's fourth-biggest gold miner by market value, has sold $500 million of non-core assets in Mexico and Guatemala this year, investing the funds into its pipeline of bigger mine development projects.
The sale of the royalties could realize about $50 million, CEO David Garofalo said in an interview following the company's second-quarter earnings.
Royalties give the owner the right to receive a percentage of revenue or profits from a mining operation. Demand for royalties has increased in the mining sector in recent years as new entrants try to mimic the strong financial performance of royalty companies such as Franco-Nevada Inc FNV.TO .
Goldcorp owns royalties on a number of non-producing assets, including the Camino Rojo gold project in Mexico, which it sold to Orla Mining OLA.V in June, and the Cerro Blanco gold-silver project in Guatemala, which it sold to Bluestone Resources in January.
Goldcorp is still deciding whether to sell the royalties as a package or separately, depending on what garners the highest price, Garofalo said.
The Vancouver-based company is now "pretty much done" with non-core asset sales, he said.