Lundin seeks up to $940mn for Ecuador gold mine

Bloomberg

Lundin Gold Inc. is forging ahead with its gold project in Ecuador, one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits, in a signal the industry is moving back into expansion mode as the metal continues to rally.
The Vancouver-based miner is planning to raise $820 million to $940 million in two phases to finance the Fruta del Norte project, CEO Ron Hochstein said in an interview in Toronto. Hochstein was in the city to meet with potential investors about the first phase of funding, which he said is expected to raise between $120 million and $140 million to lay the groundwork for the mine.
“Discussions have been going on with commercial banks, credit institutions, etc. now for several months and we’re encouraged by the feedback,” Hochstein said by phone in a separate interview.
The second round of financing is expected to raise $700 million to $800 million to be used mainly for construction, he said.
Lundin Gold is moving ahead with its project as gold futures in New York have risen about 19 percent from a five-year low late last year. Fruta del Norte, known as FDN, would become the first big gold mine in Ecuador.
The company will start to negotiate the second phase of financing after Ecuador’s presidential election, Hochstein said. Funding for the second phase will likely come from a combination of borrowing as well as “potentially a streaming transaction and equity,” he said.
The company expects to fund FDN’s construction with 60 percent debt and 40 percent equity, he said. At this point, the company won’t consider taking on a partner. “We believe that in our discussions with the financing community that this is something we could do on our own,” Hochstein said.
On Monday, Lundin Gold announced the results of a feasibility study into FDN, which determined the project in southeast Ecuador will require $669 million in capital costs, net of taxes, and $263 million for sustaining capital. The initial mine life is estimated at 13 years, Lundin Gold said in a statement.

First Gold
The company said it expects the mine to produce on average 340,000 ounces of gold annually at an all-in-sustaining cost of $623 an ounce, placing it in the lowest cash cost quartile globally. Mineral reserves are estimated at 4.82 million ounces of gold and 6.34 million ounces of silver.
Lundin Gold plans to begin construction in mid-2017, with the first gold expected to be produced in the first quarter of 2020 and the first year of full production forecast for 2021.
Lundin Gold’s Ecuadorean asset is its only project, consisting of 33 mining concessions on 75,000 hectares of land. FDN is comprised of three of those concessions. According to Hochstein, FDN is a “company builder” in the same way Nevada’s Carlin trend was integral to the success of the world’s biggest producer, Barrick Gold Corp.
The first phase of financing will pay for work to further optimize the mine plan as well as some additional drilling, site capture and engineering work, Hochstein said. Lundin Gold is exploring several options for that phase, with the primary goal of minimizing dilution, including equity, bridge loans, bonds, convertible bonds, or a mix of all of these.