
Scottie Resources Corp. (TSXV: SCOT) (OTCQB: SCTSF) (FSE: SR80) is pleased to announce that Ocean Partners UK Limited has entered into a binding term sheet with Scottie to provide a commercial offtake agreement, equity, and make available a construction loan and overrun facility to advance the Scottie DSO Project towards production. This partnership presents Scottie with certainty and flexibility when advancing the Project and ensures that it remains on track for near-term production.
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP COMPONENTS
Brad Rourke, CEO of Scottie stated: “Ocean Partner’s recognition and commitment to Scottie’s DSO Project is strong validation of the robust economics inherent to the project, and Scottie’s plan to develop the mine. The substantial equity stake and the construction loan & overrun facility aligns the two companies with the common goal of producing a high-margin DSO product in the shortest period of time.”
Brent Omland, CEO of Ocean Partners commented: “The Scottie DSO Project is an extremely compelling opportunity; direct shipping ore is one of the core products Ocean Partners trades. Producing a DSO product presents an accelerated path to production with a less intensive capital programme whilst maintaining robust project economics. We are excited to be forming a deep partnership with the Scottie team and look forward to the project advancing to production.”
STRUCTURE OF THE PARTNERSHIP
The Scottie Gold DSO partnership provides significant synergies with the Ocean Partners metal trading operations. The planned high-quality crushed DSO product will be sold directly to Ocean Partners eliminating the need for a grinding operation at the Scottie mine site, reducing operating cost, capital cost and complexity.
To fortify the partnership, the two companies have signed a binding term sheet which provides an equity investment in Scottie of $6 million (approximately $8.4 million in charitable flow through funding) and a USD$25M construction loan and overrun facility, in return for the 8-year commercial offtake agreement. The equity stake would make Ocean Partners the largest shareholder of Scottie, and as part of the overall agreement the shares must be held for a minimum of 24 months and allows Ocean Partners to appoint one director to Scottie’s board of directors.
To maintain flexibility, Scottie Resources will hold offtake termination rights for first 18-months for a lump sum after which the termination would be based on a fixed cost per tonne for the remaining undelivered tonnes in the contract term.
The construction loan and overrun facility of USD$25M will be utilized for late-stage construction, working capital, and cost-overruns. It represents a significant component of a broader, integrated financing package to be developed after the Preliminary Economic Assessment is released later this year. This financing package builds on last year’s successful equity and royalty financing with Franco Nevada, the world’s leading royalty finance corporation.
The Project is unique due to its close proximity to the port of Stewart BC, which is situated along a low-cost bulk shipping lane to Asia. The mine operation is planned to commence initially with an open pit transitioning to an underground mine, reducing start-up and operating cost risk. The upcoming PEA is expected to provide further guidance on the low capital nature of the Project delivering a substantially high Net Present Value (“NPV”) to capital cost ratio.
The commercial offtake agreement fixes the Feasibility Study level sales terms for a wide range of DSO products in terms of payables and deductions at various product grades which can be used to optimize economic studies (PEA to FS) and includes flexible termination rights should the or a change of control event occurs.
CONSTRUCTION LOAN AND OVERRUN FACILITY
The USD$25M construction loan and overrun facility key features include:
SCOTTIE GOLD PROJECT DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE
The Scottie DSO project is entering the PEA study phase with the aim to start production in an expedited manner per the following development milestones including:
At the completion of the PEA the Company intends to provide a detailed timeline on the subsequent milestones.
EQUITY INVESTMENT
Scottie is pleased to announce that Ocean Partners has agreed to subscribe for $6 million in Common Shares of the Company, translating to approximately $8.4 million in charitable flow-through funding. The price of each Common Share to be issued pursuant to this subscription will be determined two trading days following this announcement.
The net proceeds from the sale of the Common Shares pursuant to the Investment will be used for development activities, study work, permitting activities, and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
The Investment is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals including the acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange. The securities issued pursuant to the Investment will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period.
ABOUT SCOTTIE RESOURCES CORP.
Scottie owns a 100% interest in the Scottie Gold Mine Property which includes the Blueberry Contact Zone and the high-grade, past-producing Scottie Gold Mine. Scottie also owns 100% interest in the Georgia Project which contains the high-grade past-producing Georgia River Mine, as well as the Cambria Project properties and the Sulu and Tide North properties. Altogether Scottie Resources holds approximately 58,500 hectares of mineral claims in the Stewart Mining Camp in the Golden Triangle.
The Company’s focus is on expanding the known mineralization around the past-producing mines while advancing near mine high-grade gold targets, with the purpose of producing a high-margin DSO product.
All of the Company’s properties are located in the area known as the Golden Triangle of British Columbia which is among the world’s most prolific mineralized districts.
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