U.S. Export-Import Bank Issues $1.1 Billion Preliminary Project Letter of Intent to Ivanhoe Electric

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 24, Ivanhoe Electric received a preliminary project letter from the U.S. Export-Import Bank, indicating a potential debt financing ceiling of $1.1 billion for the Santa Cruz copper project. This amount represents an increase of $275 million over the $825 million listed in the letter of intent from April 2025, and the financing application falls under the U.S. "Make More in America" initiative.

The preliminary project letter signifies that the U.S. Export-Import Bank has completed its initial due diligence on the project, but it does not constitute a loan commitment. Financing remains subject to a full review, underwriting, and approval process. Ivanhoe Electric expects the bank's board of directors to conduct final deliberations in the spring of 2027, with the actual loan amount, term, and disbursement conditions still pending final documentation.

The Santa Cruz project, located near Casa Grande, Arizona, is wholly owned by Ivanhoe Electric and plans to develop an underground copper mine and an on-site copper cathode production facility. The 2025 pre-feasibility study estimated initial capital investment for the project at $1.24 billion, and on this basis, the $1.1 billion potential financing ceiling represents approximately 89% of the initial investment.

The current mine plan employs underground mining and a fully heap-leach processing method, with no copper smelting stage, and plans to produce 99.99% pure copper cathodes on site. The 2025 pre-feasibility study lists probable ore reserves of 136 million tonnes at an average copper grade of 1.08%, containing approximately 1.5 million tonnes of copper; the planned mine life is 23 years, with cumulative production of approximately 1.4 million tonnes of copper cathodes.

Ivanhoe Electric plans to use a Robbins Crossover XRE tunnel boring machine to construct the mine decline and will deploy a continuous conveying system. Equipment and refurbishment costs are estimated at approximately $64.7 million. The City of Casa Grande approved the site development plan in March 2026, and the project has obtained the permits required to commence initial construction activities, though additional approvals will still be required for downstream production facilities.

An updated pre-feasibility study is scheduled for completion in September 2026 and will incorporate the latest engineering designs for the tunnel boring machine, underground access, and material handling systems. According to the schedule released in May 2026, the tunnel boring machine is expected to arrive on site in the first quarter of 2027, decline development is planned to begin in the third quarter of the same year, and first copper cathode production is targeted for the second quarter of 2029.