Tolu Minerals’ (ASX:TOK) Tolukuma gold mine is fully funded through to production after the company accepted a K95 million ($29.5 million) debt facility from Papua New Guinea bank National Banking Corporation (NBC).
The debt facility has a five-year term from drawdown with an interest rate of 9.6% per annum, secured over Tolu’s assets and subject to customary conditions, which the company expects to satisfy before drawdown this month.
Tolu says the tailored business loan provides the proceeds needed to fund the remaining capital works required to restart the mine, which include completion of the incline access road and tunnels, refurbishment of the processing plant and power infrastructure, camp upgrades, and the construction of a tailings facility.
Underground development restarted on the 1560 level in the last quarter. Early face-sampling programs returned multiple intervals exceeding 30 grams per tonne of gold.
At Tolukuma, a staged restart is aimed at building the mine to achieve 500 tonnes per day by the end of 2027.
Currently, refurbishment of the processing plant is substantially complete, while workstreams on supporting infrastructure continue to progress.
Tolu intends to release an updated mineral resource estimate for the mine in the next 14 days. The resource estimate is being prepared by H&S Consultants.
CEO Chris Muller says the agreement over this facility is a “defining moment” for Tolu.
“With the balance sheet now in place, with the existing cash balance plus the additional $30 million to complete the restart of Tolukuma, our focus is squarely on execution — finishing the capital works, delivering the updated mineral resource estimate within the next 14 days, and bringing the mine back into production in Q1 2027,” Muller says.
“We are grateful for the confidence NBC has shown in the company and in the future of Tolukuma.”
The Tolukuma gold mine is a historical mine with production approaching 1 million ounces of gold and 2.4 million ounces of silver.
The company says the gold mine holds short-term exploration upside, along with further upside to the historical resource along strike and at depth.
Tolu Minerals is a mineral explorer and developer focused on base and precious metals, specifically gold, silver, and copper, within the PNG Metallogenic Belt.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Main Image: Tolu Minerals
