Turquoise Hill: Oyu Tolgoi Signs $4.4 Bln Project Finance Facility - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Mining company Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ, TRQ.TO), whose primary operation is its 66% interest in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver mine in southern Mongolia, announced Tuesday that Oyu Tolgoi LLC has signed a $4.4 billion project finance facility.

The facility is being provided by a syndicate of international financial institutions and export credit agencies representing the governments of Canada, the United States and Australia, along with 15 commercial banks.

Turquoise Hill, Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi will now continue to work towards completing the 2015 feasibility study, including the updated capital estimate and securing all necessary permits for the development of the underground mine.

Once these steps have been completed and subject to the boards of Turquoise Hill, Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi approving a formal 'notice to proceed', the full $4.4 billion facility will be drawn down by Oyu Tolgoi subject to certain conditions.

Net proceeds from the project finance facility, after fees and taxes, are anticipated to be approximately $4.1 billion. The Net PF Proceeds will be used by Oyu Tolgoi to pay down shareholder loans payable to Turquoise Hill.

Further, the company said the parties have agreed to a debt capacity of $6.0 billion for Oyu Tolgoi, providing the option for an additional $1.6 billion of supplemental debt in the future.