Movie theater chain AMC just bought a sizable stake in a gold and silver mining firm – a surprise move for a company attempting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company said it is buying a 22% stake in Hycroft Mining Holding Corporation and its 71,000 acre mine in Nevada in exchange for $27.9 million in cash. Canadian billionaire Eric Sprott made an equal investment in the mining firm.

AMC’s latest transaction has little in common with its core business operating movie theaters, which have struggled to lure back viewers during the pandemic. AMC CEO Adam Aron acknowledged the deal might come as a surprise to the company’s investors.

“To state the obvious, one would not normally think that a movie theatre company’s core competency includes gold or silver mining,” Aron said in a statement. “In recent years, however, AMC Entertainment has had enormous success and demonstrated expertise in guiding a company with otherwise valuable assets through a time of severe liquidity challenge, the raising of capital, and strengthening of balance sheets, as well as communicating with individual retail investors.

“It is all that experience and skill that we bring to the table to assist the talented mining professionals at Hycroft,” he added.

Despite its pandemic-era struggles, AMC has emerged as a prominent “meme stock” and favorite of retail investors in recent years. The company’s stock rose nearly 7% in trading following the deal’s announcement.

In its announcement, AMC said the mine “has some 15 million ounces of gold deposits and some 600 million ounces of silver deposit,” according to third-party studies.

Meanwhile, Aron said he canceled a planned appearance on CNBC due to legal concerns as AMC’s purchase prompted a flurry of trading volume.

“I am excited about our investment in HYMC, but there has been so much volume in that stock today, lawyers insisted I stay off air,” Aron tweeted.

The transaction is Aron’s latest attempt to jumpstart AMC’s business through alternative means. Last week, the AMC CEO revealed that the movie theater chain would begin accepting dogecoin for online payments – after starting to take bitcoin and Ethereum months earlier.