Australian resource and mineral processing technology company TNG (ASX: TNG) has received expressions of interest from German, Australian and international lenders for financing of its Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron project in the Northern Territory.
German export credit agency Euler Hermes this week issued its interest which includes indicative key terms for a $300 million financing package to cover the German portion of the project’s costs.
The terms are based on the involvement of TNG’s long-standing strategic engineering partner and major German engineering firm, SMS Group.
Tier 1 financiers
Conditional letters of support have also come from seven Tier 1 financiers in Asia, Europe and Australia experienced in multi-source project financing involving export credit agencies.
The letters follow on from support received earlier this month from Export Finance Australia for a Mount Peake debt facility of up to $300 million.
Project bankability
TNG said the support highlights Mount Peake’s bankability and strong alignment with the green sector given the use of vanadium in renewable energy applications and the company’s own green energy strategy.
The company is working with advisors and sustainability consultants to assist in ensuring the full range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) funding options are assessed, including green loan financing.
Mount Peake is one of only 15 projects identified by the federal government for its critical minerals road map.
Significant milestone
TNG managing director and chief executive officer Paul Burton said the Euler Hermes commitment marks a “significant and exciting milestone” in a multi-source funding strategy for Mount Peake.
“Our funding strategy for Mount Peake is gathering momentum in line with our strategic plans,” he said.
“Currently we have $600 million of government-related condition funding interest which is a significant contribution to our financing needs… we are still working on additional attractive potential funding sources to further diversify the mix.”
He said the cumulative interest reflects the quality of the Mount Peake project and the role it can play as a “long-life critical minerals project in the accelerating global energy transformation”.
TNG has been assisted in its funding efforts by KPMG Corporate Finance and Germany’s KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH.
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