Altius Minerals Completes Copper Purchase Agreement, Closes Debt Financing

Altius Minerals (TSX:ALS) reported that it has closed its copper purchase agreement relating to the Chapada copper-gold mine in Brazil. The company has also completed agreements for C$125 million in new credit facilities.
As quoted in the press release:

A final payment of US$52 million and 400,000 common share purchase warrants of Altius has been made to a subsidiary of Yamana Gold Inc. (“Yamana“), which now completes the US$60 million transaction. Under the terms of the copper purchase agreement Altius is entitled to purchase 3.7% of the payable copper produced from the Chapada mine at 30% of the market price. This rate is subject to certain future potential adjustments as fully described in the Altius news release dated March 31, 2016.
Altius has also completed agreements with a syndicate of lenders for new credit facilities in an amount of C$125 million that is comprised of a C$70 million, 4-year, amortizing term debt facility and a C$55 million 3-year revolving credit facility that is expandable at Altius’ option to C$80 through an accordion feature. The credit facilities include The Bank of Nova Scotia as Lead Arranger and Administrative Agent, ING Capital LLC as Syndication Agent and Bookrunner, and Export Development Canada as Lender. In addition, The Toronto-Dominion Bank has signed a commitment letter for an additional C$25 million, with final documentation expected to close shortly, which will bring the new credit facilities to an aggregate total of C$150 million.
Altius has drawn down the full amount of the term debt facility of C$70 million and C$33 million on the revolver to repay its existing term debt facility and to pay a portion of the purchase price for the Chapada copper purchase agreement. After reflecting the above transactions, the Corporation has C$47 million in committed and available credit, approximately C$17 million in cash and cash equivalents, and approximately $38 million in publicly traded securities.

Altius president and CEO, Brian Dalton, said:

Completion of the Chapada copper purchase agreement provides Altius with a long-life revenue source while improving its commodity diversity balance to reflect a higher base metal component. The Chapada mine is a low-cost producer and the revenue addition to Altius is expected to be highly accretive on a per share basis. Additionally, the new credit facilities and recently announced equity financing have improved our balance sheet by reducing interest charges and key leverage ratios while providing significantly improved liquidity should additional high-quality investment opportunities present themselves.

Click here for the full press release.