PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Newfield Resources on Thursday approved the $29.4-million development of the Tongo diamond mine, in Sierra Leone, announcing that it would raise $30.5-million through the issue of unsecured corporate bonds.
“We are delighted to have agreed a funding package that allows us to commence construction of the company’s flagship Tongo diamond mine development. We will now move to commence development activities at Tongo following the positive final investment decision made by the Newfield board,” said executive director Karl Smithson.
Advertisement“This will start with completion of the box cut excavation and first blasts for underground portal and decline development. Consistent with the completed Tongo front-end engineering and design (FEED) study development timeline, we expect to be mining first diamonds within 12 months of initial portal blasting.”
The FEED study was based on an initial probable reserve of 1.1-million carats from shallow zones within the Kundu and Lando kimberlites, delivering an initial mine life of eight years with peak annual production forecast at 260 000 ct.
AdvertisementTo fund the development of the Tonga project, Newfield has inked binding agreements to issue two tranches of unlisted, unsecured corporate bonds totalling $30.5-million.
Tranche A, which will raise up to $20-million, can be drawn down on a quarterly basis, with first draw-down expected by the end of September this year. Under Tranche B, A$4.5-million has already been received, with residual bonds to be issued on draw-down of the remaining funds over the second half of 2019.
Both tranches will have a 12% interest rate, paid semi-annually.