First Drawdown Completed Under A$350 Million Financing for the Youanmi Gold Mine in Australia

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 5, Rox Resources achieved Financial Close on the A$350 million debt financing for the Youanmi Gold Mine in Western Australia, Australia, and completed an initial drawdown of A$90.2 million from the A$300 million senior secured project loan. The company also made first use of A$4 million from its A$30 million bank guarantee facility for the construction and operational arrangements of the project's liquefied natural gas facility.

The A$350 million financing consists of a A$300 million senior secured project term loan, a A$20 million cost overrun facility, and a A$30 million bank guarantee facility, with funds provided by a syndicate of Australian and international banks. Rox has satisfied all conditions precedent for financial close and first use of the loans. The initial loan proceeds will be invested in engineering design, procurement and construction, underground mine development, infrastructure, owner's costs, and other project construction expenditures.

Following the initial drawdown, A$229.8 million remains available under the project loan and cost overrun facility, with subsequent drawdowns to be made in tranches based on construction progress and funding needs. The senior secured project loan and bank guarantee facility both have a term of 5.5 years from financial close, while the cost overrun facility has a term of 3 years; the relevant loans bear interest at the BBSY benchmark rate plus a fixed margin, with no mandatory hedging requirements.

Youanmi made its final investment decision in March 2026. Project construction financing also includes a A$218 million equity raising completed at the end of 2025. Rox subsequently commenced construction of the processing plant, tailings storage facility, power station, solar facility, and underground mine. Interquip has been awarded the EPC contract for the processing plant, Glencore Technology is responsible for work related to the Albion process system, and the natural gas supply contract is executed by EVOL.

As of the end of June 2026, all three planned underground declines at Youanmi had entered construction, with a cumulative 1,117 meters of lateral development completed, and high-grade ore from United North beginning to form surface ore stockpiles; main pit dewatering has been completed and has transitioned to dewatering of historical underground stopes. In September, underground development continued to advance toward production stopes, and Rox plans to achieve first gold pour in mid-2027.

The definitive feasibility study completed in 2025 designed Youanmi with an initial mine life of approximately 7 years, an ore processing capacity of approximately 900,000 tonnes per year, an average head grade of approximately 4.9 g/t, and average annual gold production of approximately 117,000 ounces, with total life-of-mine production estimated at approximately 817,000 ounces of gold. The study estimated pre-production capital expenditure of approximately A$383 million and an all-in sustaining cost of approximately A$1,978 per ounce over the life of mine.

Rox's September update reported a Youanmi mineral resource of approximately 12.4 million tonnes at an average grade of approximately 5.5 g/t gold, containing approximately 2.195 million ounces of gold, with underground resources accounting for the majority.