Metro secures A$40m for Queensland bauxite mine

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Bauxite developer Metro Mining has secured A$40-million in debt financing for the development of the Bauxite Hills mine, in Queensland.

Metro on Thursday announced that it had agreed binding terms with Sprott Private Resources Lending and Ingatatus, following a global tender process.

The debt financing will replace Metro’s existing A$15-million short-term debt facility with Namrog, and the completion of the financing remains conditional upon a number of factors, including legal due diligence and permitting.

“We are very pleased to have secured a highly competitive and flexible debt facility led by Sprott, one of the world’s leading providers of finance to the natural resources sector,” said Metro MD Simon Finnis.

“This debt financing represents another significant milestone and funding component for Metro, and will allow the company to continue its rapid development of the Bauxite Hills mine.”

Meanwhile, the Queensland state government has granted environmental approval for the development of the Bauxite Hills project, with final federal government approvals expected in the near future.

Mining operations and first shipment from Bauxite Hills is expected in the second quarter of next year.

The A$35.8-million project is expected to start production at an initial rate of two-million tonnes a year, ramping up to six-million tonnes a year, with a mine life of 17 years.

Metro has an initial four-year, seven-million-tonne binding offtake agreement with China’s Xinfa Group, and has secured a letter of intent with China’s fifth-largest bauxite importer for a further one-million tonnes a year over a three-year period.