TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – South Carolina-focused project developer Romarco Minerals has closed a $200-million senior secured project finance facility with a group of lenders to build its flagship Haile gold project.

Financiers Caterpillar Financial Services, ING Capital, Macquarie Bank and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking had extended the project finance facility to Romarco with no mandatory gold hedging.

Romarco said subsidiary Haile Gold Mine had requested the initial $10-million borrowing under the debt facility for a draw down by Friday.

Construction at Haile started during last month and the first gold pour was expected in the fourth quarter of 2016.

There were currently six contractors and subcontractors on site.

To date, the initial mining fleet had been delivered and prestripping had started at the Mill zone of South pit, while the of hiring employees and contractors was on schedule and expected to total 164 at the end of June. By year-end, the total staffing will be about 350.

Romarco’s focus was currently on timbering, clearing and grubbing at the tailings storage facility (TSF), mine area haul roads, the 69 kV power line and the TSF growth media-storage area. Site grading was in progress for the temporary maintenance facility and stormwater control measures were in progress for the Mill zone and temporary maintenance facilities. Land clearing and stormwater control measures were also being installed for the plant area in preparation for the installation of the underground utilities and construction of the water treatment plant.

After receiving all necessary permits to start construction at Haile, Romarco, in December, reported that it had updated the project’s economics, resulting in a 72% boost in its after-tax net present value (NPV).

The updated report was based on the company’s February 2011 feasibility study but, given the passage of time from the original economic analysis, the company undertook confirmatory work on the project economics.

Using a 5% discount rate, the after-tax NPV rose from $191-million to $329-million and the internal rate of return increased from 15.7% to 20.1%.

While most economic metrics remained constant, the assumed gold price was adjusted higher to $1 250/oz from $950/oz.

The initial cost of the project rose to $333-million, including a $17-million contingency, of which $31-million had already been paid. This was higher than the initial capital estimate of $275-million, including a $30-million contingency.