Name of the Project
Lac à Paul phosphate project.

Location
The project is located in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, located in Quebec, Canada.

Project Owner/s
Arianne Phosphate.

Project Description
The Lac à Paul project comprises the operation of an openpit phosphate mine. It envisages an openpit mine with a 26-year mine life and a concentrator producing an estimated three-million tonnes a year of high-quality apatite concentrate.

Potential Job Creation
About 1 000 direct and indirect jobs are expected to be created.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The feasibility study on the project completed in October 2013 estimated the net present value, at an 8% discount rate, of $1.9-billion and an internal rate of return of 20.7%, with a capital payback of 4.4 years before taxes and mining duties.

Capital Expenditure
The feasibility has estimated an initial capital cost of the project at $1.22-billion, comprising $982.5-million for the mine and $232.2-million for the concentrate transport system.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
Arianne Phosphate has entered into a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese State-owned enterprise Sinoconst pertaining to the development of the Lac à Paul project.

The parties have agreed to work towards a final binding agreement, which will include full project financing.

On a parallel track, Sinoconst will advance efforts to secure offtake in support of the financing package under the MoU.

Arianne has said that Sinoconst’s participation in the development of Lac à Paul is tied to finalised project financing commitments. 

The intent now is for both parties to reach a fully binding agreement and, as per the MoU, directly tie Sinoconst participation in the project's development to their ability to provide necessary project financing, which is expected to be supported by offtake discussions.

Arianne believes that ongoing discussions with Sinoconst should accelerate the company’s ongoing discussions with other potential suppliers, offtakers and financial partners.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Arianne Phosphate, tel +1 418 549 7316, fax +1 418 549 5750 or email info@arianne-inc.com.