- Debt issued to develop Australian Potash’s (APC) Lake Wells sulphate of potash (SOP) Project will be granted Green Loan verification
- This verification confirms that the company’s project will make a positive environmental contribution to global SOP production
- In related news, Export Finance Australia has obtained conditional credit approval to provide Australian Potash with a $45 million senior debt facility
- This debt facility would have a ten-year tenor and would help fund development of the Lake Wells Project
- Australian Potash is in the grey and trading at 18 cents per share
Debt issued to develop Australian Potash’s (APC) Lake Wells sulphate of potash (SOP) Project will be granted Green Loan verification.
This verification is in line with the Green Loan Principles 2021, which were adopted by the Loan Market Association and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association.
The Green Loan verification confirms that the company’s Lake Wells Project will make a positive environmental contribution to the global SOP production by producing significantly less carbon emissions than other SOP projects.
Australian Potash’s Managing Director and CEO, Matt Shackleton, restated the company’s firm commitment to an environmentally sustainable development at Lake Wells.
“Green Loan verification provides assurance to our lenders and broader stakeholder group that we will honour this commitment, adopting a governance and reporting framework in line with Green Loan Principles,” he said.
“It is very satisfying to have our efforts in this regard recognised, and to be able to pass on this third party assurance to our lenders, as we move rapidly towards development of the LSOP,” he added.
In related news, export credit agency Export Finance Australia has completed its initial due diligence on providing a senior debt facility to Australian Potash. Furthermore, EFA has also obtained conditional credit approval to provide the $45 million senior debt facility to the company.
The senior debt facility, which would have a ten-year tenor, would help to fund development of the Lake Wells SOP Project. This facility is in addition to the $140 million loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF), which was approved earlier this year.
Australian Potash expects that documentation of its senior debt facilities, including the NAIF facility, EFA facility, and commercial bank facility, should be completed by mid-2021. The commercial banks are continuing with their due diligence on the final tranche of their debt funding facility.
Australian Potash is in the grey, trading at 18 cents per share at 11:46 am AEST.