Mount Peake Project
•The following points are in addition to the MD Presentation.
•Timeline:
-The biggest cause ofprojectdelay has been native title and the CLC [Central Land Council],where approval took 18+ months.
-1Q 2020NAIF funding announcement
-Mid-2020FID
-End-2020Constructionstarts
-18-24mthsConstruction,plant commissioning and ramp-up to plateau -2023Full production
•Downstream Land Title:Asking forCrown Land to be converted to freehold and transferred to TNG at nil cost (based on a similarInpexprecedent)
•FEED: Well over >50% completed. A$20 million cash balance means TNG is fully funded to complete FEED.
•SMS Group / EPC contractor: SMS is most likely to be appointed the EPC contractor, as a) they are the ones conducting FEED and are familiar with the technology; b) are a global competent organisation who can provide the process and product guarantees required by lenders and investors; and c) are the EPC contractor supported by the proposed primary lenderKfW.
•A shareholder askedwhat is“Plan B”, if SMSdoesn’t work out, e.g.triesto price gouge the company. The Chairman responded that this was his concern too. However,upon closer analysis it is not in SMS’s interest to kill the project (with excessive fees). SMS see TIVAN as a disruptive technology that will change the whole industry, and they are most keen to be the company that can bid for future projects based on their Mount Peak experience. Therefore,the Chairman is “less uncomfortable” about being the “first cab off the rank” with SMS and TIVAN.
•CAPEX: A$824 million is about the right figure, unlikely to be less but also unlikely to be significantly more. In the optimistic case, ifCoogeebuilds a processing plant next door, then TNG can source inputs fromCoogeeand there would be less CAPEX required to build TNG’s plant.
•REHAB BOND: This is likely to be significant. [It was unclear from the answer whether this is in addition to the Pre-production CAPEX.]
•Debt Funding:KfW’sview is for primary lenders to fund 60-65% of the project leaving 5-10% for mezzanine financing, for total 70% debt financing.
•NAIFFunding: Fully expect some NAIF funding, significantly more than A$70-A$80 million previously flagged, as the project is now Northern Territory’s #1 project. NAIF funding may be part of the debt component above.
•Equity Funding: 30% equity funding target, funded by future TNG capital raising and/or a sell-down in Mount Peake project equity.
•TIVAN: BDO has been hired to conduct a valuation of TIVAN. A new overall patent is being submitted. It is possible thatat some time in the future,the TNG subsidiary which holdsTIVAN technology licenses maybefloated on a relevant stock exchange like Singapore [and it was implied shares distributed to TNG shareholders].
