News: BCI UPDATE 1-BCI Minerals secures finance for Australian salt project

(Adds details on the deal, quote in paragraph 5)

Oct 9 (Reuters) - BCI Minerals (BCI) on Monday said it has lined up a total A$981 million ($624 million) in finance for its salt project in Western Australia, with the final leg coming from Canada's export credit agency.

BCI said it had received approval for a A$150 million project finance facility from Export Development Canada, which would be used to pay for equipment and services from Canadian companies for the Mardie project.

The Canada funding approval accompanies an additional A$31 million of finance from the project's two existing commercial bank lenders.

The nods come after recent finance approval for A$650 million of Australian federal government funding from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) and Export Finance Australia (EFA).

"This completion of the Project finance package is an important project milestone, with the support shown by key lenders indicating strong confidence in BCI’s Mardie Project," said Managing Director, David Boshoff.

BCI is in a deal with mining holding firm Mineral Industri Indonesia (MIND ID) to supply 1 million metric tons per annum of salt from the Mardie project. The project is designed to produce about 5 million tons a year of salt.

It expects to start drawing down debt in the second half of the 2024 financial year.

The company said it plans to work on lining up debt funding for a potash plant at the project in 2024, after completing further design and cost studies. ($1 = 1.5728 Australian dollars)