Australian Strategic Materials (ASM) has announced a further potential $400 million in funding for its Dubbo rare earths project in New South Wales.
The explorer revealed it has received a non-binding and conditional letter of interest from Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada’s official export credit agency.
The $400 million package will go towards the construction and execution phase of Dubbo, including the supply of equipment and services from Canadian companies.
“We are thrilled with the support received to date from prospective financiers for the Dubbo Project, especially this latest letter of interest from Export Development Canada,” ASM managing director and chief executive officer Rowena Smith said.
“Our focus has been on building strategic partnerships in North America that support the development of our mine to metals strategy.
“We see the growing strength of those relationships and the momentum in financial support as recognition of the strength of the Dubbo Project and its significance as a reliable, responsible and secure source of critical minerals.”
This latest funding joins the recent $900 million package from the US Federal Government’s official export credit agency, the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
ASM also previously welcomed a $200 million letter of support from Export Finance Australia. Current funding for Dubbo’s construction now stands at $1.12 billion.
Dubbo is a large resource of rare earths, zirconium, niobium and hafnium, and is tipped to have a mine-life spanning several decades.
Long-term, the materials produced from the Dubbo Project will be used for refining into critical metals at ASM’s proposed metals plants, the first of which is in South Korea.
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