Generation Mining is cashing up in its preparations to fund upcoming construction of its billion-dollar Marathon palladium and copper project near the north shore of Lake Superior.
The Toronto mine developer announced this week that it has arranged debt financing of up to $540 million for the open-pit mining project, 10 kilometres north of the town of Marathon.
The company said it has executed mandate letters and term sheets with a syndicate of three lending institutions, namely Export Development Canada together with ING Capital LLC and Societe Generale S.A.
Gen Mining said these lenders were chosen due to their expertise and experience in financing greenfield mining projects. The closing of this debt facility will be in the third quarter of 2023.
Last year, Gen Mining struck a gold and platinum streaming deal with Wheaton Precious Metals to the tune of $200 million. All combined, the company has $740 million set aside in the construction budget.
The company is awaiting the final provincial permits to start the early phases of construction this summer. The full build-out could begin early next year with pre-production and mine commissioning tentatively scheduled for mid-2025.
The project will create 800 construction jobs over a 24-month period and 400 direct mining jobs for Marathon and the area when operations begin.
Gen Mining said its next steps are to arrange equipment leasing and source the balance of capital needed for the $1.11-billion project.
In a webcall to investors last month, president-CEO Jamie Levy and the executive team said they’re having discussions with various government agencies, hoping to tap into critical minerals funding programs to provide the lion’s share of the remaining project financing.
In a statement this week, Levy said the interest by these lenders “validates” Marathon’s status “as an economic, sustainable, environmentally sensitive, low-cost producer of critical metals that are needed to support emissions controls and the transition to a greener economy.”
