Horizonte Minerals, the nickel development company focused in Brazil, is pleased to announce that it has executed a mandate to arrange a senior secured project finance facility of up to US$325 million (the “Mandate”) to fund the construction and development of its Araguaia ferro-nickel project in Brazil (‘Araguaia’ or ‘the Project’).
A syndicate of five international financial institutions, including BNP Paribas (‘BNPP’), ING Capital LLC (‘ING’), Mizuho Bank, Ltd. (‘Mizuho’), Natixis, New York Branch (‘Natixis’), and Société Générale will act as the Mandated Lead Arrangers (‘MLAs’). The formal Mandate follows the signing of a non-binding indicative term sheet (‘Term Sheet’) for an up to US$325 million debt facility (the “Facility”).
The execution of the Mandate is a key milestone in the project financing process for the development of Araguaia. BNPP, ING, Mizuho, Natixis and Société Générale have extensive experience in providing project financing to greenfield mining projects and were chosen as Mandated Lead Arrangers due to their extensive Latin American project finance experience and the strength of their mining teams.
Closing of the Facility, targeted for end of the calendar year 2020, remains subject to completion of due diligence in form and substance satisfactory to the MLAs, final credit approvals and execution of definitive Facility documentation.
The definitive Facility documentation will include customary project finance terms and conditions, as well as a comprehensive intercreditor agreement. Drawdowns under the Facility would be subject to customary conditions precedent.
Jeremy Martin, Chief Executive of Horizonte, commented, “The mandating of five international financial institutions, with strong mining and metals track records, for the arrangement of a large senior debt facility is a significant achievement for Horizonte. This debt facility will cover a significant portion of the pre-production capex required to complete the Stage 1 construction for Araguaia. We are targeting completion of the project financing package for the Project by the end of 2020, provided that restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic do not cause further delays. We aim to start construction in early 2021.
The interest of top tier financial institutions further validates Araguaia’s status as a Tier 1 nickel project and will be the first of our two 100% owned nickel projects to move to the construction phase. This major milestone moves us closer to our goal of becoming a nickel producer. We look forward to updating the market throughout the rest of this year on our progress.”
