sydney herald

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/european-nickel-on-track-to-fund-project-20100714-10ala.html

European Nickel on track to fund project
July 14, 2010 - 2:49PM

AAP

European Nickel plc says it's on track to complete debt financing for its $US350 million ($A397 million) Caldag nickel laterite project in Turkey by year-end.

London-based European Nickel, which recently merged with Perth-based Rusina Mining NL, expects the Caldag project will have a 14-year mine life with production starting in early 2012.

"We envisage that by the end of this year, we'll have the debt finance in place," European Nickel deputy executive chairman Simon Purkiss told reporters on Wednesday.

European Nickel recently mandated two lead banks to arrange a $US300 million ($A340 million) term loan.

Societe Generale and UniCredit Bank have each committed to contribute $US50 million ($A56.7 million) to the facility.

"We've had a number of discussions with perhaps eight or 10 banks, and have had significant expressions of interest in getting that remaining $US200 million, so we don't anticipate any difficulty in doing that," European Nickel chief financial officer Mark Hanlon said.

The lead banks will also arrange a $US25 million ($A28.3 million) overrun facility for the project.

European Nickel is also focused on the $US498 million ($A564.8 million) Acoje nickel project in The Philippines.