Horizonte Minerals Plc (AIM: HZM) has satisfied all conditions needed for the first utilisation under the senior secured project finance debt facilities of US$346.2M.
Importantly, the company is now in receipt of the first tranche of funds from the senior lenders. This milestone unlocks the balance of the funding required to complete construction, commissioning, and ramp-up at Horizonte’s 100%-owned Araguaia Nickel Project in Brazil, where construction is underway, and progress remains on schedule.
In addition, Horizonte has also satisfied all of the conditions precedent in relation to utilization of the COF and has fully drawn down the US$25M of COF funding from Orion.
Jeremy Martin, CEO of Horizonte Minerals, commented: “This significant milestone for Horizonte is the culmination of a multi-year effort to sufficiently de-risk the Araguaia Nickel Project to access low-cost debt funding from a syndicate of leading international financial institutions. The rigorous due diligence process, and the extensive list of obligations that Horizonte was required to meet to access this funding, should provide all our stakeholders with confidence in the robustness of Araguaia.
“This milestone demonstrates that we have made significant progress on construction and have been able to satisfy the senior lenders that we have, among others, shown that Araguaia is fully funded through to completion and first cash flows; made significant progress with construction and in line with the schedule, awarded all of the key material contracts, including equipment supply, engineering procurement and construction management (EPCM), port access and power supply; have a long term offtake in place for 100% of Araguaia’s production from line one with a high quality counterparty in Glencore; and lastly, have built out a high quality team to deliver the project.”
To find out more, please visit www.horizonteminerals.com
