Secures Finance for Mankarga 5 Feasibilty Study
Perth, Oct 29, 2014 AEST (ABN Newswire) - West African Resources Limited (
ASX:WAF) (CVE:WAF) is pleased to announce it has signed a Committed Term Sheet with the Metals & Energy Capital Division of Macquarie Bank Limited (Macquarie) to provide a two-year US$5 million convertible loan facility (Facility) to fully fund the completion of the Company's Feasibility Study for the Mankarga 5 Heap Leach Gold Project in Burkina Faso.
Managing Director Richard Hyde said: "It is very pleasing to have the support of Macquarie in developing the Mankarga 5 heap leach starter project. It strongly endorses both the quality of the Mankarga 5 project, and the Company achieving its aim of being a +50,000oz per annum of gold producer by the end of 2015."
The US$5 million Facility amount, which is credit approved, is to be drawn down in full by way of a single cash advance. The Facility is subject to further title and ownership due diligence and documentation which is expected to be completed by the end of November 2014. Macquarie has been providing funding to the resources sector globally for more than 20 years and has a wellestablished track record of funding gold projects in West Africa.
The Facility includes the provision of some 40.6 million unlisted options (Options) at an exercise price of A$0.14. Any funds received by WAF through the conversion of the options will be applied against the outstanding Facility amount, reducing the outstanding debt owed to Macquarie. The Options will expire three years from the date of issue and are to be allotted on drawdown of the Facility. Final details of the Facility will be confirmed upon satisfaction of all conditions. The options will ultimately be issued using the Company's available placement capacity pursuant to ASX Listing Rule 7.1. and/or 7.1(A).
West African will be releasing an upgraded Mineral Resource Estimate and Independent Feasibility Study later in 2014. The Company anticipates completion of project finance arrangements for the construction and development of Mankarga 5 in the first quarter of 2015, which is a little over 12 months since completing acquisition of the project. First production is scheduled for the final quarter of 2015.
In July, the Company delivered positive results from a Scoping Study which demonstrated a low capital cost, high margin, heap leach starter project (ASX,TSXV: 29/7/14).
The Company is focussed on near-term production with its immediate attention on the Mankarga 5 deposit and existing nearby gold prospects. The Company aims to be a +50,000oz per annum gold producer by the end of 2015 via a low-cost heap leach starter project. The proposed project development schedule for Mankarga 5 and surrounding prospects is shown in link below.
To view the development schedule, please visit:
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-WAF-697130.pdf
About West African Resources Limited
West African Resources Limited (
ASX:WAF) (CVE:WAF) is a gold-copper exploration company dedicated to creating shareholder value through the acquisition, exploration and development of resource projects in Burkina Faso, West Africa.
West African has a landholding of 6,370sq km and 200km of strike length of early Proterozoic Birimian greenstone belts, which are highly prospective for gold mineralisation.
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