US Strategic Metals is being considered for a potential US$400 million ($607.1 million) loan from the US Government-backed Export-Import (EXIM) Bank.
The Missouri-based critical minerals producer has received a non-binding letter of interest from the EXIM Bank for a 15-year debt funding package.
The funding will enable further development of US Strategic Metals’ mining and metallurgical project.
The company will mine cobalt from “one of the largest cobalt reserves in North America”, near the Madison Mine in Missouri, as well as process third party concentrates and recycle metals from lithium-ion batteries at its metallurgical plant.
The project will produce cobalt, nickel, lithium and copper.
The transaction may be eligible for special consideration under EXIM Bank’s China and Transformational Export Program (CTEP), which is aimed at helping American companies facing competition from China in sectors including renewable energy, energy storage and energy efficiency.
US Strategic Metals says the EXIM loan, combined with existing equity and credit facilities, will provide funding for substantially all of the anticipated construction and development capital required to complete the project.
EXIM Bank will now undertake formal due diligence and conduct the required comprehensive underwriting to determine the appropriate terms and conditions of the loan.
US Strategic Metals is working to reduce America’s dependence on fossil fuels, by recycling, extracting and processing crucial metals to power a circular energy supply chain.
The company has a nearly 18-year mineral supply on an 1,800-acre site, with an additional 2,000 acres of nearby mining rights.
In May, US Strategic Metals inked a deal with Missouri University of Science and Technology to partner on precursor cathode active material (pCAM) research.
CEO Stacy Hastie says pCAM production is the missing link in the US battery supply chain.
US Strategic Metals is providing training for Missouri University of Science and Technology personnel – including postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students – working on the project to use the company’s extraction facilities to produce pCAM.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: US Strategic Metals
