Survey of Global Debt Markets

RNS Number : 8101J

Amur Minerals Corporation

03 July 2017

 

3 July 2017

AMUR MINERALS CORPORATION

(AIM: AMC)

Survey of Global Debt Markets

Amur Minerals Corporation ("Amur" or the "Company"), a nickel-copper sulphide mineral exploration and resource development company focused on the far east of Russia, is pleased to announce that it has appointed Medea Capital Partners Ltd. ("Medea"), an FCA regulated corporate advisor, as Strategic Advisor to assist the Company in financing the development of the Kun-Manie Nickel/Copper Project in Russia (the "Kun-Manie Project" or the "Project").

Highlights:

·     Medea is advising Amur on the overall financing options for the Project including the debt market, off-take agreements and strategic equity partners

·     Medea has completed initial market soundings and reported their findings to the Board covering project debt capacity, lending market capacity, Export Credit Agency ("ECA") coverage, and strategic partner engagement

·     Medea has recommended that an updated Pre-feasibility Study ("PFS") be completed to update the market on the Project economics

·     Medea have begun to work closely with the executive team at Amur to ensure all studies and models produced by the company are in line with the expectations and requirements any potential future partners or funders

Medea was engaged by Amur in March 2017 to undertake a survey of global debt markets and potential strategic partners to determine the potential availability of strategic partners as well as project financing for construction of the Kun-Manie Project. Medea has now provided a strategic advisory paper to Amur which concluded there is available market capacity for investment by a strategic partner in the Project and that ECA covered debt project financing is available for the development of the Project.

The Amur Board is currently reviewing the paper with Medea to fully understand the multiple financing pathways available to the Company allowing for the development of a road map to full project funding. An updated PFS is being completed enabling the Company to update the market on the most recent Project economics.

Medea is an FCA-regulated corporate advisory firm based in London that provides advice on raising and structuring construction and development financing for mining companies. The Medea team takes a comprehensive approach to ensure successful financing of mining projects for junior mining companies with a particular specialty in emerging market projects. Further information about Medea can be found on www.medea-nr.com.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 until the release of this announcement.

Robin Young, CEO of Amur Minerals, commented:

 "The engagement of Medea has provided the Company with a long term strategic advisor on the structuring of project financing for the development of the Kun-Manie Project. We are now entering into a new phase of the Company's development and are excited about the possibilities of working with potential strategic partners and various ECAs.

Medea's comprehensive report has provided the Company with the basis for developing a detailed plan and roadmap to full project financing. I look forward to updating the market as we develop and implement this strategic plan and as the company further focusses on its role in developing the Kun-Manie asset." 

Enquiries:

Company Amur Minerals Corp.	Nomad and Broker S.P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Public Relations Yellow Jersey
Robin Young CEO	Ewan Leggat Soltan Tagiev	Harriet Jackson Charles Goodwin
[phone]	[phone]	[phone]

Export Credit Agencies

ECAs are public agencies that provide sovereign-backed loans, guarantees and insurance to companies seeking to do business in developing countries and the involvement of ECAs is expected to be a key aspect of achieving full funding, as ECAs can provide credit insurance, which significantly reduces the risk profile of project debt to the syndicate of mining finance banks who ultimately finance the development of the Project.

ECAs currently finance or underwrite about US$430 billion of business activity in emerging markets, of which about US$55 billion is deployed in direct project finance in developing countries and US$14 billion is deployed in credit insurance policies for new foreign direct investment. This collective financing by ECAs is greater than other individual development finance institutions (DFIs) such as the World Bank Group and Regional Development Banks.

In the case of the Kun-Manie Project, ECA policies are expected to provide mining finance banks with insurance coverage for both political risk and also the commercial risk of providing the project debt financing to construct the Project.

For further information, see the Company website at http://www.amurminerals.com.

For audio link:  http://amurminerals.com/content/wp-content/uploads/medea.mp3

 

END

 

 

MSCDMGFVKGRGNZM