First Quantum Completes Euro 14 Million Loan Facility with the European Investment Bank for Bwana Mkubwa
March 14, 2003 11:00:00 AM ET
VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2003--First Quantum Minerals Ltd. FQVLF(TSX:FM.TO)(LSE:FQM) is pleased to announce the finalization of all conditions precedent for a Euro $14 million term debt facility for its wholly owned subsidiary Bwana Mkubwa Mining Limited ("Bwana Mkubwa") with the European Investment Bank ("EIB"). First disbursement of the facility will be made on 21 March 2003. The EIB debt facility will rank pari passu with the existing Standard Chartered Bank three year project debt which was utilized for the expansion of the Bwana Mkubwa SX/EW facility from an annual production rate of 10,000 tonnes (22 million pounds) of copper cathode to a minimum of 30,000 tonnes (66 million pounds) of copper cathode. The EIB debt facility is a six year facility reflecting the new maturity of the Bwana Mkubwa operations, repayable in equal annual installments of principal and interest commencing in July, 2003. The debt facility incorporates an interest rate linked to the average copper price realized by First Quantum in the preceding financial year. The interest rate ranges from a low of 3.0% at or below copper prices of $1,399 per tonne (US $0.634 per pound) to a high of 12.5% at or above copper prices of $2,400 per tonne (US $1.089 per pound). Based on the current LME copper price of $0.74 per pound, the interest rate payable is 5.5%.
"We are very pleased to have the EIB as a lender to our Bwana Mkubwa-Lonshi operations, as they are committed long term investors with a mandate to foster development of projects in Sub-Sahara Africa. This facility is only a first step in our relationship with the EIB who will soon be mandated to provide long term funding for the development of our Kansanshi project in Zambia " commented Philip Pascall, Chairman, First Quantum Minerals.
About the European Investment Bank
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the financing institution of the European Union, was created by the Treaty of Rome. The members of the EIB are the Member States of the European Union, who have all subscribed to the Bank's capital. The EIB enjoys its own legal personality and financial autonomy within the Community system. The EIB's mission is to further the objectives of the European Union by providing long-term finance for specific capital projects in keeping with strict banking practice. Since the 1960s, the EIB has been playing a proactive part in European development cooperation policies with the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, supplementing with its loans the substantial input of grant aid from the Union and its Member States. In these countries, the EIB focuses on mining, industry and agriculture and on upgrading infrastructure in the fields of energy generation and transmission, communications and, particularly in urban areas, water resource management. |
