Australian Potash Ltd (ASX:APC) has received green-loan verification for the debt issued to partly fund development at its flagship Lake Wells Sulphate of Potash Project (LSOP) in Western Australia.
The Green Loan Principles build on and refer to the Green Bond Principles and can apply to new or existing Green Projects.
Green Loan verification confirms that Lake Wells will make a positive environmental contribution to the global production of SOP, producing significantly less carbon emissions than Mannheim SOP
In a further boost for APC, Export Finance Australia has obtained conditional credit approval to provide a $45 million senior debt facility with a 10-year tenor.
“Efforts recognised”
Managing director and CEO Matt Shackleton said: “APC is firmly committed to an environmentally sustainable development at Lake Wells, where we will produce high-grade SOP using a high renewable energy penetration rate hybrid-power solution.
“Green Loan verification provides assurance to our lenders and broader stakeholder group that we will honour this commitment, adopting a governance and reporting framework in line with Green Loan principles.
“It is very satisfying to have our efforts in this regard recognised, and to be able to pass on this third-party assurance to our lenders, as we move rapidly towards development of the LSOP.”
Conditional credit approval
Export Finance Australia has completed initial due diligence on providing a senior debt facility to develop Lake Wells and has obtained conditional credit approval for a $45 million senior debt facility with a 10-year tenor.
The provision of any debt facility will be subject to formal documentation and the satisfaction of conditions precedent for a facility of this nature.
This debt facility is in addition to the approved $140 million 17-year tenor Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) tranche announced in February 2021
Commercial banks continue with due diligence on the final tranche of the debt funding facility.
Documentation of the senior debt facility, comprising the NAIF facility, the Export Finance Australia facility and the commercial bank facility, is expected to be completed in mid-2021.
The Lake Wells Sulphate of Potash Project is approximately 500 kilometress northeast of Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields.