PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Tuvatu gold project, in Fiji, is poised for development after project developer Lion One Metals secured a $40-million finance facility with Sinosteel Equipment & Engineering and mining and smelting group Baiyin.
Lion One will engage Sinosteel as the project engineering, procurement and construction contractor, and Baiyin as the offtake partner.
The facility will have a five-year term and a yearly interest rate of 7.5%, and will have a net smelter return royalty of 2.25% on the first 350 000 oz of gold produced at Tuvatu.
Lion One will have the option to increase the principal of the facility by $10-million with the same interest rate, repayment schedule, security and pro-rata royalty as the facility.
The ASX- and TSX-listed company will also have the right to obtain a new facility of up to $10-million freely, provided it is not secured against the facility security.
The Tuvatu project is fully permitted for operations to start and is advancing as a near-term production opportunity with district-scale exploration upside.
The project is expected to comprise an underground mining operation producing 352 931 oz of gold over a seven-year period and at cash costs of $567/oz.