LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Kazakhmys PLC (KAZ.LN) Wednesday said it has signed a $200 million loan facility with China Development Bank Corp. and Kazakh sovereign wealth fund JSC Samruk-Kazyna to develop existing mining projects, the latest installment from a $2.7 billion finance package.
China Development Bank in June struck a deal to provide Samruk-Kazyna with a $3 billion financing line. Under the terms of agreements signed since late December, $2.3 billion of that line will be allocated to Kazakhmys for mining projects and another $400 million is available to the company over the next three years, Kazakhmys said.
The infusion of cash will allow Kazakhstan's biggest copper miner to boost spending on growth projects. The company spent $694 million on capital expenditure in 2008, but cut guidance to $500 million for 2009 after commodity prices tumbled. The company hasn't yet forecast 2010 capex figures.
So far, Kazakhmys has earmarked $2.1 billion from CDB and Samruk-Kazyna to fund the development of its Boschekul copper project in Kazakhstan and its Bozymchak gold-copper project in Kyrgyzstan, and another $200 million to unspecified projects. Bozymchak's first output is expected in 2011 and a feasibility study for Boschekul will start in early 2010.
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