Bushveld subsidiary secures loan facility for Imaloto power station project

Bushveld Minerals has arranged a loan facility with the Development Bank of Southern Africa for its Lemur Holdings subsidiary.

Lemur locked in the $1m loan facility to fund works at its Imaloto thermal power station project in Madagascar and, while negotiations with potential lenders were said to be progressing, the group said DBSA's loan would be sufficient to see it through to the project's financial close - with funding already arranged to then take it through to commissioning.

The AIM-listed group's subsidiary, which has already completed a bankable feasibility study for the power side of the project and is working on optimising the underground mining plan, told investors talks were ongoing over the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the power station, while fieldwork for the social and environmental study was scheduled to wrap up this quarter.

Chief executive Prince Nyati said: "We are pleased that the Imaloto Project is progressing according to plan. We are particularly delighted to receive support from the DBSA.

"We believe that the funding will help us finalise our objective of achieving financial close and providing reliable baseload power to southern Madagascar. DBSA participation in the development of the Imaloto Project highlights the economic potential of our project as well as the developmental benefits it offers to southwestern Madagascar."

As of 1200 BST, Bushveld shares had picked up 1.95% to 33.64p.