TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and NYSE MKT-listed PolyMet Mining has received the first tranche of $6-million under a $30-million loan facility due on March 31, 2016, giving the project developer about $10.3-million working capital to advance its NorthMet copper/nickel/precious metals project, in north-eastern Minnesota.
“Funding of this tranche of debentures demonstrates Glencore's continued support for PolyMet and the NorthMet project. PolyMet continues to expect the NorthMet final environmental-impact statement to be published in the federal register and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board Monitor in November, with the state ‘adequacy decision’ in early 2016, as previously reported on the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' website," president and CEO Jon Cherry stated.
PolyMet had 100% control of the NorthMet orebody and the nearby Erie plant, near Hoyt Lakes, in the established mining district of the Mesabi Iron Range. The NorthMet project was each year expected to produce about 72-million pounds of copper, 15.4-million pounds of nickel, 720 000 lbs of cobalt and 106 000 oz of precious metals.
The company was seeking permits to operate the mine and processing facilities for 20 years at a mining rate of 32 000 t/d.