Blackstone Minerals Ltd (ASX:BSX, OTCQX:BLSTF) has garnered strong interest from financiers after the completion of a lender engagement program for its flagship Ta Khoa Project in northern Vietnam.
Lender engagement was undertaken with select globally recognised commercial banks, export credit agencies (ECAs) and multilateral agencies, supported by Korea Development Bank (KDB) and BurnVoir Corporate Finance.
Consequently, the company's positive engagement with the financiers has provided valuable feedback to incorporate into the ongoing definitive feasibility study for the project.
Notably, relationships with financers will ensure key project decisions are optimised from a technical, commercial and funding perspective.
“Targeted lender engagement strategy”
Blackstone managing director Scott Williamson said: “The feedback generated via our targeted lender engagement strategy has provided valuable intelligence to guide our development of the Ta Khoa Project.
“Valuable insights received through this process have already resulted in positive actions that Blackstone has implemented to further de-risk technical, commercial and funding elements of the project.
“We look forward to advancing our lender engagement through their due diligence and credit approval processes as we move closer to a final investment decision on Ta Khoa in 2023.”
Lender engagement program
Lender engagement has been managed by Blackstone’s debt financing co-advisors KDB and BurnVoir.
KDB and BurnVoir are acting jointly and in collaboration with Blackstone to secure an attractive, flexible funding package for the development of the Ta Khoa Project.
Lender feedback to date has informed Blackstone’s financing strategy and has enabled Blackstone to refine its ongoing technical studies and commercial arrangements including supply agreements, offtake arrangements and project partnering negotiations.
Ta Khoa potential
Blackstone’s Ta Khoa Nickel Project (TKNp) and Ta Khoa Refinery (TKR) are the two major cogs in the company’s vertically integrated development strategy (together - the Ta Khoa Project).
The company’s development strategy is underpinned by its ability to secure nickel concentrate and Ta Khoa is emerging as a nickel sulphide district of enviable scale with several exploration targets yet to be tested.
In February 2022, Blackstone completed a pre-feasibility study for the TKNP and presented this on an integrated basis with the proposed TKR development.
The TKR is being designed to have annual refining capacity of 400,000 tonnes, with feedstock provided from a combination of concentrate from the TKNP and third-party feed sources.
Pilot plant testing and definitive feasibility studies are underway and will continue to technically de-risk the Ta Khoa Project.
At both the mine (upstream) and refinery (downstream) level, Blackstone is focused on a partnership model and is collaborating with groups who are focused on sustainable mining, minimising carbon footprint and implementing a fully vertically integrated supply chain.