Kibaran soars on debt funding offer
Shares in Kibaran Resources soared after it received an expression of interest from an unnamed European bank to provide debt funding of $28 million to help the company develop its Epanko graphite project in Tanzania.
The six-and-a-half year loan is dependent on an evaluation of the commercial, legal, ecological, social and other aspects of the project including the results of a feasibility study being undertaken by GR Engineering.
The bank has also offered to help arrange funds for the balance of the project.
Kibaran has already secured a binding offtake agreement for Epanko, underpinning 50 per cent of the 40,000 tonnes a year of graphite it is expected to produce.
"The expression of interest increases Kibaran's confidence that production at the Epanko project will commence in 2016," the company said in a statement.
Executive director Andrew Spinks said the company was entering an exciting phase.
"The expression of interest provides further confidence to graphite market participants that Epanko will commence production in the near-term, and advance Kibaran's ongoing discussions with a number of potential offtake customers," he said.
Shares in the company were up seven cents, or 42.42 per cent, to 23.5 cents at 9.30am.
