Kingston Resources secures $10m financing for Mineral Hill gold-copper re-development
Funding by PURE Asset Management will be allocated to Kingston Resources in two $5 million tranches with the first tranche provided immediately.
Kingston Resources (ASX: KSN) has secured a $10 million debt facility with PURE Asset Management to fund key growth initiatives at the resurrected Mineral Hill gold-copper mine in New South Wales.
The funding will be allocated in two $5 million tranches with the first tranche provided immediately and the second to be drawn by the end of November, subject to certain progress milestones.
It will enable the completion of work plans to support the delivery of a five-year-plus mine life at Mineral Hill, including engineering studies for the refurbishment of the mine’s 400,000-tonne-per-annum processing plant, near-term resource and reserve updates at the Pearse and SOZ deposits, mining studies and technical programs for the Pearse open pits, and refurbishment works at the SOZ underground development.
Much-needed finance
Kingston managing director Andrew Corbett said the debt facility will provide much-needed finance to get the project development underway.
“The team at PURE has conducted extensive technical due diligence including multiple site visits prior to committing to this funding today’s outcome reflects their confidence in the underlying fundamentals of Mineral Hill,” he said.
“This facility represents an important achievement for the project and an important corporate step for Kingston, as it is our first debt funding package.”
Mineral Hill acquisition
Since Kingston acquired the Mineral Hill project in January from US-based Quintana MH Holdings, extensive progress has been made to understand the mine, tailings processing (which has been underway since September) and upside potential of the site.
Approvals are now in place for a mining re-start and the company is well advanced on growing the project’s resource base to deliver gold-copper production over an initial five-year period.
Planning is in progress at the Pearse open pits and the SOZ underground mine, while resource updates for Pearse North, Pearse South and SOZ are expected by year end.
“The partially-mined open pit at Pearse South, a developed underground at SOZ, an existing processing plant and current approvals all contribute to what we anticipate will be a relatively low-cost, high return, re-start of hard rock mining at Mineral Hill,” Mr Corbett said.
“We are confident this mine will underpin Kingston’s development and position us as a key gold-copper producer in NSW in the near future.”