Namakwa secures $15m loan

[miningmx.com] — NAMAKWA Diamonds, the London-listed vertically integrated diamond mining company, on Tuesday announce that it has secured debt financing of $15m from a private investor.

The company said the loan was secured at a competitive fixed interest rate of 8.5% per annum and secured against certain assets of the company’s Southern African Group.

It said the loan, which has an initial term of 12 months, would be used for general corporate purposes, including the development of Group assets in South Africa, Lesotho and the DRC.

The company has the option to extend the term of the loan by six months at an
increased rate of interest.

“By securing debt finance at a competitive market rate, we are leveraging off our
balance sheet strength to unlock significant value from our near-term production
projects at the earliest opportunity,” said Namakwa chief executive Nico Kruger.

Namakwa is currently in discussions to secure additional banking facilities that will
optimise its use of working capital.

Discussions are ongoing with a number of South African banks in respect of a R100m working capital facility, the company said.

Additionally, the company is exploring opportunities to enter into a medium term
bank facility of around $25m to provide further capital for the development
of current assets.