Aura Minerals Inc. said March 8 that it secured a US$20 million loan facility from Louis Dreyfus Co. Metals for the restart of its Aranzazu copper mine operations in Mexico.
The company's Aranzazu Holding SA de CV unit may draw down the full amount of the facility in three tranches upon achieving certain project milestones.
The facility includes a 12-month grace period, including the repayment of Aura's outstanding loan with Auramet International LLC. The loan will be guaranteed by the company's interests in the Aranzazu project and the San Andres gold project in Honduras.
The company also entered into an off-take agreement with Louis Dreyfus, covering 100% of the production of copper concentrates from Aranzazu.
