Mineral & Financial upbeat on progress at Lagoa Salgada

Mineral & Financial Investments updated the market on the Lagoa Salgada Project in Portugal on Wednesday, after Ascendant Resources and Redcorp Empreedimentos Mineiros - the joint venture partners responsible for the project - announced the potential involvement of the UK Export Credit Agency (UKEF) in providing financial support.

The AIM-traded firm said the selection process involved UKEF evaluating a group of four compliant expressions of interest, ultimately choosing them as the preferred agency.

If the agreement was finalised, UKEF could potentially offer up to $190m in Export Credit Agency (ECA) support.

That support would be in the form of long-term ECA Project Finance, covering around 70% of the pre-production costs.

Additionally, UKEF could also extend further assistance to cover interest during construction and insurance premium costs.

The next step in the process would involve appointing a mandated lead arranger, which was set to commence shortly.

“We are very pleased with Ascendant's progress to possibly partner with UKEF to bring Lagoa Salgada into development,” said president and chief executive officer Jacques Vaillancourt.

“Whilst there can be no guarantee that this ECA will complete, we believe the support of the UK Government and UKEF is a testament to the attractiveness of the Lagoa Salgada Project, and we look forward to providing more updates, as Ascendant works with UKEF and any future appointed MLA to complete project financing.”

At 1210 GMT, shares in Mineral & Financial Investments were up 10.99% at 19.7p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.