Horizonte Minerals has announced that it secured a syndicated loan of $325mn to fund the construction and development of its Araguaia ferronickel mine in Brazil.
The firm, headquartered in the UK, expects to complete financing procedures by the end of the year so that it can commence construction at the beginning of 2021, barring COVID-19-related delays. The loan will help cover Horizonte’s pre-production costs required for the first stage of the mine’s construction, the company said in a statement.
Big five financial institutions like BNP Paribas, ING Capital LLC, Mizuho Bank Ltd, Natixis, and Societe Generale, will be funding the project. The companies were chosen for their experience financing Latin American projects.
Araguaia will be the first of two Horizonte-owned nickel projects to start construction, which the company undertook to become a nickel producer.