True North Copper (ASX:TNC) has met all tranche one conditions precedent of the 4-year US$28 million ($42 million) senior secured loan with Nebari Natural Resources Credit Fund II LP.
True North, which has a $52.79 million market capitalisation, says drawdown of tranche one of the loan facility (US$18 million), is scheduled for 9 February 2024.
As part of the trance one facility True North will hold about $13.47 million on a term deposit paying about 5% per annum interest, with bank guarantees to be issued to satisfy its obligations with respect to rehabilitation bonding requirements, regarding the Cloncurry rehabilitation bond.
Other terms of the tranche one payment include a fully repaid short term working capital loan of about $5.32 million to Dyda Property Management.
Settlement of the initial payment is managed by True North’s legal representation, Holding Redlich and Steinepreis Paganini. All parties have agreed to the settlement.
Managing Director Marty Costello says having ‘top-tier’ funding partners in the company’s corner is a ‘strong’ vote of confidence in its flagship Cloncurry Project.
“We are looking forward to partnering with Nebari as we bring our Cloncurry Copper Project into production. We are incredibly proud to be working alongside international top-tier funding partners like Nebari and Tembo Capital and our toll processing and offtake partner Glencore International AG (LON:GLEN), who are all global leaders in their field.
Their expertise and support have been crucial in our development and demonstrate what I believe is a strong vote of confidence in our Cloncurry Copper Project and its potential. We’re excited about restarting mining at the Cloncurry Copper Project, at a juncture when the global market is facing a looming copper supply gap.”
On 31 January 2024, True North Copper executed binding agreements and obtained Nebari Investment Committee clearance for the US$28 million senior secured loan with Nebari, as reported by Mining.com.au.
Costello said the company will utilise funds to “refinance the environmental bond, as the key step in our mining restart at the Cloncurry Copper Project, as well as provide working and restart capital”.
True North aims to start copper metal production at Cloncurry with mine plans combining the Great Australia Mine reserve and Wallace North resource into a single mining operation.
Yesterday, the company announced it had defined a maiden ore reserve at its Wallace North Project, as part of Cloncurry, of about 700,000 tonnes grading 1.01% copper and 0.46 grams per tonne gold for 6,800 tonnes of copper and 10,000 ounces of gold.
True North Copper is a precious metals-focused explorer headquartered in Cairns, Queensland. The company has assets across Queensland that are prospective for precious and critical minerals.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: True North Copper
