PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Base metals hopeful Panoramic Resources has flagged the need for at least another A$19-million, as part of the amendments to its current financing agreement over the Savannah project, in Western Australia.

Panoramic has been forced to amend its current financing agreement with Macquarie Bank due to the slow ramp-up of the Savannah project, allowing for the first repayment of a A$40-million project loan to be rescheduled from March 2020 to June 2020, without changing the repayment end date of December 2021.

The amendments to the financing agreement come with a number of terms, including the additional hedging of 1 560 t of nickel, which will be delivered between October 2020 and September 2021, at an average weighted nickel price of A$8.15/lb.

Panoramic would also be required to undertake a capital raise of at least A$19-million, of which at least A$5-million would need to be received by the end of March this year, and the balance by the end of April.

Furthermore, from the end of April, the project proceeds account would need to have a minimum balance of A$7.5-million, or the next month’s operating costs, whichever is greater, until final repayment in December 2021.

The Savannah operation has faced a number of challenges during the three months to December, including delays in recruiting staff, mobile equipment availability, and storm damages which diverted resources away from the operations.

A number of issues in January and February have also resulted in ore production being below forecast.

Panoramic told shareholders on Wednesday that the company was implementing a number of initiatives in order to improve the mining and processing operations, including the delivery of new loaders and trucks ahead of schedule, the appointment of additional technical staff to assist with mining and processing operations, a review of the mining schedule to determine if there was an ability to increase production to compensate for the slow ramp-up and to fill the remaining vacancies of the permanent workforce.

Meanwhile, the next shipment of concentrate is scheduled for late March, with a nominated cargo size of between 5 000 t and 8 000 t. The final shipped tonnage would be dependent on the concentrate production between now and the departure date.