Fed tests gold upleg
Gold’s outlook and fundamentals remain really bullish.
Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company (NMMC) achieved a historic milestone this week with the successful launch and pricing of its $1 billion debut bond offering, marking the first global debt market issuance from a gold mining company since June 2023.
The offering comprises $500 million in four-year notes at 6.70% yield and $500 million in seven-year notes at 6.95%. Ahead of the offering, the company obtained its first-ever credit ratings, with a credit profile confirmed at a level above sovereign: BB+ by S&P and BB by Fitch.
NMMC is currently Uzbekistan’s biggest industrial enterprise and one of the world’s leading gold producers. Last year, its gold production reached 2.9 million ounces, making it the fourth largest globally.
The bond offering, said NMMC, marks a landmark achievement for both the company and the wider region. It represents the largest orderbook for an issuer from Uzbekistan since the sovereign debut in 2019, peaking at $5.5 billion (over 5.5x oversubscribed), as well as one of the largest corporate Notes deal from the CIS since July 2020.
NMMC said it will use to funds to support its investment programs, as well as to repay existing debt and cover operational expenses. The bond offering will also allow the company to refinance existing debt at more attractive rates and longer tenors, it added.
“Our debut notes offering marks the beginning of what we anticipate will be a long and fruitful relationship with the global investor community. This milestone is not only significant for our company but also for the Republic of Uzbekistan, where NMMC is a lynchpin of the local economy,” NMMC’s first deputy CEO and chief transformation officer Eugene Antonov said in a news release.
The note offering follows an earlier investment of $150 million from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan’s largest bank, to support the company’s expansion plans at its mine operations.
The company currently owns a dozen gold mining operations across the Navoi and Samarkand regions of Uzbekistan. The most well-known is the Muruntau open pit mine southwest of the Kyzylkum desert, which was originally developed during the Soviet era as a source of uranium but has since evolved into a large gold mine complex. NMMC says Muruntau is now recognized by geologists as the largest in terms of gold reserve with an estimated 4,500 tonnes of gold.
Combined with its other deposits, NMMC’s total mineral resource base is estimated at 148 million oz. of gold.
