This came in the wake of repeated complaints from the mining sector itself that there was a funding shortage.

"We certainly are not turning away projects," RMB transactor Gary Buisansky said at the Africa Mining Congress in Sandton. "There is certainly strong appetite in RMB for good projects where we can adequately mitigate the risks."

He said that the credit crunch had "played a role", but added that he believed "we're turning the corner on that". Buisansky said that RMB was, in fact, aggressively looking for projects to develop, finance, and maybe syndicate on.

RMB is a unit of JSE-listed FirstRand Limited.

Speaking at the same conference the previous day, JSE-listed DRDGold CEO John Sayers said that the current credit markets were tough.

"I wouldn't like to try and raise money in today's markets," he commented.

Meanwhile, DBSA project finance senior investment officer Mohale Rakgate echoed Buisansky's sentiment.

"There isn't a single project that we have turned down on the basis of the current credit situation," he stated. "We are looking for business."

Buisansky conceded that banks might have to syndicate more because of the credit crunch, but that RMB still had a hunger for projects.

"There's certainly no slowdown from our perspective, we're working full steam ahead," he asserted.

‘SPECIALS ARE OVER'

One way that that the credit tightening, which infected the global economy after the US subprime debacle emerged, was affecting financing, is that it was making things more expensive, Buisansky said.

"The cost of financing has gone up, that's clear," he stated.

"So you're not going to get your project at last year's rates - those specials are over," said Buisansky.

He explained that the turbulent credit markets had increased the costs of RMB's funding, which the bank had to pass on to its customers.

"That is the impact of the credit crisis," Buisansky noted.

Mining industry experts had predicted that some junior mining companies might not be able to raise enough money to explore and develop their projects, which could lead to bigger peers buying them out.

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