Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE:IE) has secured a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the US to provide up to US$825 million ($1.3 billion) in debt financing with a 15-year repayment tenor for the Santa Cruz Copper Project in the US.
EXIM’s ‘Make More in America’ initiative is designed to boost US’ competitiveness, strengthen supply chains and reduce strategic vulnerabilities alongside its China and Transformational Exports program.
In June 2025, Ivanhoe expects to deliver a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) for the Santa Cruz Copper Project. The PFS will support further project financing activities.
The company says permitting and detailed engineering work are being aggressively advanced throughout 2025.
Ivanhoe Electric anticipates that permits will be received and initial construction activities will begin in the first half of 2026.
Ivanhoe Electric is assessing EXIM’s interest together with other financing alternatives available to it for developing Santa Cruz. In the event Ivanhoe Electric proceeds with a formal application, EXIM will need to undertake all due diligence necessary to determine if a final lending commitment would be made.
Any final lending commitment will depend on meeting EXIM’s criteria, authorisation process, as well as finalise and satisfy certain conditions.
Executive Chairman Robert Friedland says receiving the letter of interest from EXIM underscores the importance of the Santa Cruz Copper Project to grow domestic copper production.
“The United States urgently needs more domestically produced copper to support the rapid expansion and rebuilding of its electric transmission and transportation infrastructure, national defence capabilities, and technologies of the future,” Friedland says.
“Santa Cruz is positioned perfectly to be a source of pure copper cathode to help the US achieve its strategic mission of greater self-reliance on domestic production of critical metals.”
Ivanhoe Electric CEO Taylor Melvin adds that the company is grateful to work with EXIM regarding this financing opportunity as Santa Cruz advances towards initial construction in 2026.
“As an advanced-stage copper project on private land in the United States, 100% owned by a United States company and with the ability to produce pure copper cathode on-site, our Santa Cruz Copper Project is uniquely positioned to meet rising US demand for domestically sourced copper,” Melvin says.
Ivanhoe Electric continues to pursue additional government support programs, including the EXIM’s Supply Chain Resilience Initiative and the Section 45X advanced manufacturing production tax credit. The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative provides financing tools to strengthen and diversify US access to critical mineral supply chains, while Section 45X offers direct tax incentives for the domestic production and processing of those minerals.
The Santa Cruz Project, located in Arizona, aligns with EXIM’s initiative as it intends to increase the nation’s supply of critical minerals to foster economic growth and strengthen national security through domestic resource production.
EXIM is the official export credit agency of the US. It is a government agency that offers financial support to companies through means such as direct loans and loan guarantees, working capital guarantees, and export credit insurance.
Ivanhoe Electric is focused on critical minerals, particularly copper. The company believe the US is significantly under-explored and has the potential to yield major new discoveries of critical metals. Its mineral exploration efforts focus on copper, as well as other metals including nickel, vanadium, cobalt, platinum group elements, gold, and silver.
Through the advancement of its portfolio of electric metals exploration projects, headlined by the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona and the Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah, as well as other exploration projects in the US, Ivanhoe intends to support US supply chain independence by finding and delivering the critical metals necessary for the electrification of the economy.
According to the US Department of Energy, over 80% of the nation’s supply of critical minerals comes from foreign sources and the US imports more than half of its consumption of 43 of the 50 critical minerals.
There is no domestic production for at least 14 of the 50 identified critical minerals.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Ivanhoe Electric
