As part of this MOU, ABB has also committed to work with Arianne in helping to secure financing for this portion of the project and to that end, has already made introductions.
This agreement confirms that an additional power bloc of 14-MW from Hydro-Québec will be made available for the Lac à Paul project’s ore processing facilities. This power bloc now totals 129-MW.
With this additional power bloc, Arianne will be able to supply all of its processing facilities with hydroelectric power, making it the apatite concentrate producer with the lowest greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on the market.
A significant portion of the whole power bloc of 129-MW, i.e. 42-MW, will be used for the electric dryer to dry the apatite concentrate.
The innovative technology integrated into the dryer will prevent the equivalent of 86,000 metric tonnes per year of CO2 emissions.
It will also have a positive economic impact on the Lac à Paul project.
The agreement will cover structural and architectural engineering, steel fabrication and construction of the mill process and utilities buildings and, on-site stock pile storage.
This project agreement provides for discussions focused on Arianne’s use of ships serving Rio Tinto to deliver phosphate concentrate to international markets and should provide both environmental and economic benefits.
The land is projected to be the future site of the port and is required for the development of the maritime terminal as well as the access roads and supporting infrastructure.
It is from this site that Arianne will be shipping its high purity phosphate concentrate to customers around the world.
The loan will bear interest at 8%, paid semi-annually and has a maturity of 3 years with the Company having the ability to repay the loan after one year at its option.
As part of the loan, the Company has issued non-transferable warrants in the amount of 800 per $1,000 face value (for a total of 2,400,000 warrants), with each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one common share of the Company at a price of $1.25 per share for a term of 3 years expiring on September 28, 2019.
Additionally, following the expiry of the regulatory hold period, should the closing price of Arianne’s common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange”) be equal to or higher than $2 for 10 consecutive days, the Company shall have the right to force the exercise of the warrants by providing the warrant holders with a 30-day notice period, following which the warrants will automatically expire.
He is highly skilled in international business development, finance and corporate strategy.
As well, the Company announced the appointment of a new CEO, Brian Ostroff. His past experience in finance and capital markets will help as the Company pursues partnerships and financing arrangements.
The Company met deadlines for the port facilities project currently being carried out by the Port of Saguenay.
The environmental studies are underway for the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (“CEAA”).
This significant stage in the project’s development will allow Port of Saguenay to obtain the necessary government approval in order to begin the construction of the loading facilities and then obtain the permits requested.
