Prospect picks Afreximbank to raise US$143m for Arcadia

STAFF WRITER

Battery minerals company, Prospect Resources Limited, has appointed the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to arrange and manage the primary syndication of a US$143m project finance debt facility.

The transaction makes Prospects’ Arcadia project the first African lithium mine financed by Afreximbank and the first African lithium mine to attract debt finance.

Afreximbank will fund and hold US$75m of the facility. The parties have also agreed a non-binding indicative debt facility term sheet.

Prospect said the appointment of Afreximbank as mandated lead arranger is a critical milestone in the financing of the Arcadia lithium project in Zimbabwe. The parties will now undertake further detailed due diligence and negotiate the final facility agreements, it said.

Execution of the facility agreements will be subject to Afreximbank’s further due diligence and credit approvals and drawdown will be subject to satisfaction of various conditions precedent to be included in the agreements.

Prospect Resource Executive Chairman, Hugh Warner, said: “We are very pleased to have agreed this mandate with Afreximbank, who have significant experience lending into Zimbabwe. We welcome Afreximbank as a long-term partner and look forward to working together to deliver a tier one lithium project.”

Prospect is a battery minerals company with a focus on lithium in and around Zimbabwe, with the flagship project being the 87% owned Arcadia Lithium project, located on the outskirts of Harare in Zimbabwe.

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