Kinross signs debt financing for Tasiast

The Tasiast gold mine in Africa. (Image courtesy of Kinross Gold)

Kinross Gold has announced that it has signed a loan agreement for up to $300 million with the International Finance Corporation (a member of the World Bank group), Export Development Canada with the additional participation of ING Bank and Societe Generale for its Tasiast mine.

The company’s wholly owned Tasiast open pit produced a total of 288,124 oz. in the first nine months of this year. In September, Kinross announced that it will be proceeding with the Tasiast 24k expansion project to incrementally increase throughputs to 24,000 t/d by mid-2023, up from the 12,000 t/d range currently.

Proven and probable reserves at Tasiast stand at 120.8 million tonnes grading 1.9 g/t gold for a total of 7.2 million oz.

The loan has an eight-year term and matures in December of 2027. It features a floating interest rate of LIBOR plus 4.38% with initial drawdown expected in early 2020.

This news follows an announcement of the company’s sale of 20.7 million shares of Lundin Gold for gross proceeds of approximately C$150 million earlier this month.

(This article first appeared in the Canadian Mining Journal)