PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Lithium developer Prospect Resources has secured a $10-million export finance facility from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, which the company said will be used to meet development costs for its Arcadia lithium mine.
The facility, which was issued to Prospect’s Zimbabwean subsidiary, will have a 7.5% interest rate and a capital repayment holiday of 12 months, after which monthly repayments will be made for a period of 24 months.
Prospect told shareholders on Tuesday that the loan was another building block in the financing of the Arcadia lithium mine, and was tangible evidence of the government’s support for the project.
A 2017 prefeasibility study estimated that the Arcadia project could produce 75 000 t/y of spodumene concentrate, ramping up to 123 000 t/y, 155 000 t/y petalite concentrates and 88 000 t/y tantalite concentrates over the life of the mine.
The project is estimated to have a 15-year mine life, and would cost an estimated $52.5-million to develop.