Herald mandates Soci?t? G?n?rale to raise $62m for Sumatra zinc/lead project
Thursday, May 25 2006 - 06:08 AM WIB
Australian miner Herald Resources Limited announced on Thursday that it has mandated Soci?t? G?n?rale Australia Branch to provide US$62 million senior finance facilities to develop the high-grade Dairi zinc/lead project in North Sumatra.
The company said the proposed loan facilities would consist of two tranches, namely: Project Facility of $54 million and Cost Overrun Facility of $8 million. It said the decision to choose Soci?t? G?n?rale was made after considering a number of financing offers from banking and smelting groups.
?The above facilities are subject to completion of due diligence, bank credit and joint venture partner approvals. In conjunction with the US$90 million of equity already raised by the Company, Herald is confident that the above facilities will be more than sufficient to fund the estimated project financing requirement of US$140 milliom,? the company said in a statement.
The company said the Soci?t? G?n?rale offer was chosen having regard to a number of factors, including minimizing dilution and maximizing flexibility in relation to marketing of the Dairi concentrates.
Herald, together with 20 percent partner PT. Aneka Tambang Tbk. is planning to develop Dairi zinc/lead project to process 1 MTPA of ore, producing 220,000 and 100,000 tonnes of zinc and lead concentrates per year, with production seen commenced in the next 2-3 years. (alex)