REG - Cora Gold Limited - USD70m Debt Mandate Letter for Sanankoro Project

Cora GoldAnnouncement

28/06/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1178E  Cora Gold Limited  28 June 2023

Cora Gold Limited / EPIC: CORA.L / Market: AIM / Sector: Mining

 

28 June 2023

 

Cora Gold Limited

 

('Cora' or 'the Company')

 

US$70m debt Mandate Letter signed to support

Sanankoro Gold Project Construction

 

Cora Gold Limited, the West African focused gold company, is pleased to
announce that it has entered into a mandate letter to appoint Atlantique
Finance to act as sole adviser in the structuring and mobilisation of a
medium-term loan of US$70 million in CFA franc ('XOF') to support funding the
development of Cora's flagship Sanankoro Gold Project in south Mali.

 

Atlantique Finance is the investment banking and advisory arm of Groupe Banque
Atlantique and a member of the Banque Centrale Populaire Group ('BCP Group'),
the 6th largest banking group in Africa in terms of equity and the leading
banking institution in Morocco. The appointment of Atlantique Finance is for a
minimum term of six months and on an exclusive basis.

 

Bert Monro, Chief Executive Officer of Cora, commented, "We look forward to
working with Atlantique Finance to deliver debt finance for the construction
of Cora's flagship Sanankoro Gold Project. The Banque Atlantique group has
extensive experience of debt financing in West Africa.

 

"This US$70 million debt mandate is building on our fundraising activities
earlier this year, where we raised US$3.9m in equity and US$15.9m in
Convertible Loan Notes.  Once the definitive binding agreements in respect of
senior debt are concluded, and such agreements become unconditional, then the
Convertible Loan Notes are subject to mandatory conversion.  The Company
looks forward to giving further updates on fully financing Sanankoro into
production in due course as it progresses with Atlantique Finance."

 

Habib Kone, Chief Executive Officer of Atlantique Finance, commented,
"Atlantique Finance and BCP Group have a track record of successfully helping
businesses secure debt funding for various purposes including, in 2021,
US$122m to support the construction of a gold mine in Guinea. Over the past
five years Atlantique Finance and BCP Group have raised over US$8,500m on the
banking and capital markets. We are confident in our ability to support Cora
through our expertise and breadth of knowledge of the market, and we are
available to seek the expected debt financing for the Sanankoro Gold Project."

 

Further information on the Sanankoro Gold Project

 

Following completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study and Maiden Reserves on
Sanankoro the Company announced, on 21 November 2022, the following Optimised
Project Economics (post tax, based on a gold price of US$1,750/oz) and a
Maiden Probable Reserve of 422koz @ 1.3 g/t Au:

 

●     52.3% internal rate of return ('IRR')

●     1.2 year payback period

●     US$71.8m first full year free cash flow ('FCF')

●     US$234m FCF over life of mine ('LOM')

●     US$997/oz all-in sustaining costs ('AISC')

●     6.8 years Reserve mine life

●     56,000oz pa average production

●     US$90m pre-production capital (including mining pre-production
& contingencies)

 

Market Abuse Regulation ('MAR') Disclosure

 

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed
inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 ('MAR'), which is part of UK law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this announcement.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information, please visit http://www.coragold.com
(http://www.coragold.com/)  or contact:

 

 Bert Monro           Cora Gold Limited      info@coragold.com (mailto:info@coragold.com)

 Craig Banfield
 Christopher Raggett  finnCap Ltd            +44 (0)20 7220 0500

 Charlie Beeson       (Nomad & Broker)
 Susie Geliher        St Brides Partners     pr@coragold.com (mailto:pr@coragold.com)

 Isabel de Salis      (Financial PR)

 Will Turner

 

Notes

 

Cora is a West African gold developer with de-risked project areas within two
known gold belts in Mali and Senegal. Led by a team with a proven track record
in making multi-million-ounce gold discoveries that have been developed into
operating mines, its primary focus is on developing the Sanankoro Gold Project
in the Yanfolila Gold Belt, southern Mali, into an open pit oxide mine. Based
on a gold price of US$1,750/oz and a Maiden Probable Reserve of 422 koz at 1.3
g/t Au the project has strong economic fundamentals, including 52% IRR, US$234
million Free Cash Flow over life of mine and all-in sustaining costs of
US$997/oz.

 

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