Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals has bought into the fancied Havieron gold project in Western Australia after making a significant investment in Greatland Gold.
The investment comprises an initial $60 million equity subscription, which is subject to shareholder approval, with a potential $60 million to follow.
Wyloo will become Greatland’s largest shareholder following the investment, owning approximately 8.6 per cent of the gold company.
Greatland, which owns 30 per cent of Havieron, has also signed a seven-year $220 million debt syndicate with ANZ, HSBC and ING.
Combined, the Wyloo investment and debt facility will enable Greatland to be fully funded for its share of Havieron project development based on the October two-million-tonne-per-annum (Mtpa) pre-feasibility study.
The company will also be funded for the completion of the feasibility study in the December quarter this year, which aims to add another 1Mtpa to Havieron.
“This is a tremendous announcement for Greatland to have a pathway to being fully funded for its share of the development costs of Havieron,” Greatland managing director Shaun Day said.
“The significant size of each bank’s commitment, together with the strategic support from Wyloo, highlights the long-term confidence in the Havieron gold-copper project and the strength of this world-class asset.”
Wyloo chief executive officer Luca Giacovazzi echoed Day’s sentiment.
“Havieron is one of the most exciting discoveries in Western Australia’s emerging Paterson Range that continues to grow in scale and quality as the understanding of this Tier-1 system evolves,” he said.
“We are proud to be supporting Greatland to develop WA’s next copper-gold mine into a low cost, modern mining operation with very high environmental and social standards.”
Newcrest Mining owns the remaining 70 per cent of Havieron.
Newcrest decided against purchasing an additional 5 per cent stake in Havieron in August after an independent valuer determined the additional interest would cost the company $US60 million.
Greatland Gold reported a $US1 billion increase in the project’s net-present value in July.
The WA project is now worth $US1.2 billion as at December 2021. Two months prior, it was worth $US228 million, as per stage one of the Havieron pre-feasibility study.