- Kingsgate Consolidated (KCN) secures the first round of funding to restart work at the Chatree gold mine in Thailand, with US$7.5 million (A$10.8 million) to hit its bank this week
- Kingsgate will use the funds to appoint an international engineering firm to refurbish and restart Chatree, with the re-commissioning of Plant 2 to be a priority for the company
- The company announced the A$21.5 million bridge loan with Taurus Mining Financing Fund in March, though it initially expected to draw the first funds from the deal in April
- Kingsgate battled the Thailand government for more than half a decade to get Chatree, which was once the largest gold mine in the country, back up and running
- Shares in Kingsgate Consolidated are up 1.16 per cent to $1.31
Gold miner Kingsgate Consolidated (KCN) has outperformed a deflated market today after securing the first round of funding to restart work at the Chatree gold mine in Thailand.
Kingsgate first flagged the US$15 million (A$21.5 million) bridge facility with Taurus Mining Financing Fund back in March, at the time saying it expected to draw the first funds from the deal before the end of April.
Today, slightly later than anticipated, Kingsgate said the first tranche of US$7.5 million would hit its bank by the end of this week.
Kingsgate said it planned to use the Taurus funds to appoint an international engineering firm to refurbish and restart Chatree, with the re-commissioning of Plant 2 at the project to be a priority for the company.
The company will also dedicate some of the funds to appointing some key technical staff for the project, and Kingsgate said the recruitment process was now in its final stages.
Kingsgate then plans to kick off a regional exploration program in the Chatree area, with reverse circulation (RC) drilling to initially target prospective near-mine zones.
While Kingsgate is gearing up to put the first tranche of Taurus funds to use, the company said it was also negotiating a US$30 million funding deal with Taurus to replace the existing bridge loan.
Kingsgate has been battling the Thailand government for more than half a decade to get Chatree, which was once the largest gold mine in the country, back up and running.
Following years of litigation, the Thai government agreed to allow Kingsgate to restart Chatree operations in September 2021.
Shares in Kingsgate Consolidated were up 1.16 per cent to $1.31 at 2:03 pm AEST.