TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Toronto-listed base-metals miner First Nickel on Monday said the restructuring of all of the company's existing debt had become effective.

This included an increase in the principal amount of the revolving credit facility with The Bank of Nova Scotia from $10-million to $15-million and an extension of the revolving credit facility maturity date from May 2014 to March 2015.

The maturity dates of the company's other loans, including with Resource Capital Fund IV, Resource Capital Fund V and a fund managed by West Face Capital, were also extended from December this year, to March 2015.

First Nickel said it intended to use the revolving credit facility mainly to manage working capital and did not expect to fully draw it down.

Shareholder-provided letters of credit backed the revolving credit facility and its availability was not conditional on achieving financial covenants.

Owing to the company's liquidity needs not allowing enough time to conduct a mandatory shareholder vote under TSX rules, First Nickel had applied to the TSX for an exemption from the shareholder approval requirement on the basis that the company was in “serious financial difficulty”.

The company said that relying on this exemption automatically initiated a delisting review by the TSX.

However, First Nickel was confident that it would be in compliance with all of the TSX continued-listing requirements upon conclusion of the delisting review.

The company on July 1, 2012, declared commercial production at its flagship Lockerby mine, near Sudbury, Ontario.

It last week reported revenue of $36.1-million, cash production costs of $37-million, and a net operating loss of $36.3-million for the year ended December 31.

During the period, First Nickel recognised a $16.8-million impairment charge on the Lockerby mine and a $5-million impairment charge on exploration properties.

Slower-than-planned development and unplanned rehabilitation work on the main ramp of the Lockerby nickel mine impacted fourth-quarter production and delayed the ramp-up to full production to the first quarter of this year.

The company in February said it produced about 5.8-million pounds of payable nickel and 4.6-million pounds of payable copper in 2012.

First Nickel’s TSX-listed shares had lost 70% of its value in the past year and early on Monday traded at 2.5 Canadian cents apiece.