Augusta receives a $50M loan offer from EXIM to build the Nevada gold mine

Augusta Gold has received a letter from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) expressing its interest in providing up to $50 million for the company’s construction-ready Reward project in Nevada.

The letter outlines EXIM’s preliminary interest in providing a “direct, competitively priced loan” with a potential 10-year repayment term, including an interest-only period, the Vancouver-based gold developer said on Monday.

The Reward gold project in Nye county about 200 km northwest of Las Vegas is fully permitted ahead of building a conventional open-pit, heap-leach operation. It’s expected to have an initial cost of nearly $90 million, plus $32 million in sustaining capital.

According to a feasibility study released last September, the Reward project is expected to produce about 39,000 oz. a year, with peak annual production of 47,000 oz., over a 7.6-year life. First production could occur as early as this fall, pending funding.