Resource Capital Fund VII (RCF VII) and Beedie Investments have provided a $35m convertible note facility with an interest rate of 8.5% to Orezone Gold Corporation to fully finance the construction of Bomboré Gold Project located in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

RCF VII is part of Resource Capital Funds, a global mining private equity firm.

Beedie Capital is the private investment arm of Beedie, the largest private industrial owner, developer, and property manager in Western Canada.

Patrick Downey, President and CEO of Orezone, said: “We are extremely pleased to announce this attractive financing package following a competitive selection process. We believe the financing package is a testament to the strong project fundamentals offered by Bomboré.”

In addition to that, Orezone secured a $96m senior secured debt facility with Coris Bank International, one of the largest and fastest growing banks in West Africa, with interest rates of 8.0% and 9.0%.

The Project Financing Package is also comprised of a $51m bought-deal equity offering of 61,950,000 common shares of the Company at a price of C$1.05 per Common Share for gross proceeds of C$65,047,500 co-led by Canaccord Genuity and CIBC Capital Markets.

Overall, the Company has secured binding commitments totalling in excess of $182m.

“We are delighted to welcome Coris as the senior lender to the Project and proud to have them as a partner.  They are one of the largest West African banks and first became a shareholder in 2018.  They have financed mining projects within West Africa and are very conversant with the technical and political landscape in the region,” Downey said.

“We have worked very closely with RCF throughout this process and thank them for their continued support.  We are also very pleased to welcome the Beedie Group as a new lender to the Company,” he added.

The Project remains on track for first gold pour by Q3-2022.

The debt package is structured to provide maximum flexibility for the Company to complete future expansions including the staged Phase II Sulphide Expansion. 

Bomboré hosts a very large M&I resource at shallow depths, has exciting exploration potential, and is open to further enhancement opportunities. 

“We are now ready to ramp up construction activities at Bomboré with first gold pour scheduled for Q3-2022,” concluded Downey.