News Releases
July 20, 2011
AXMIN EXECUTES MANDATE LETTER WITH THE STANDARD BANK TO ARRANGE AND UNDERWRITE UP TO US$100 MILLION OF DEBT FINANCING
Toronto, Ontario – July 20, 2011 – AXMIN Inc. (TSX Venture: AXM) (“AXMIN” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce the signing of a Mandate Letter with The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (“SBSA”), an international financial institution headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, in terms of which SBSA is appointed as the Mandated Lead Arranger (“MLA”) to arrange and underwrite a US$100 million Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa Limited (“ECIC”) backed term loan facility for the purposes of partially funding the development of the Passendro Gold project in the Central African Republic.
SBSA has provided an indicative term sheet where it proposes to arrange and underwrite a US$100 million term loan and work with other MLA’s (to be appointed) for the provision of up to US$230 million of total debt facilities. SBSA’s commitment to arrange the financing is subject to satisfactory technical, legal and environmental due diligence, execution of acceptable terms and documentation and obtaining final credit approvals, including that of ECIC.
President and CEO of AXMIN, Mr. George Roach, comments, “AXMIN is very pleased to be working with one of the major lenders for mine development in Africa and one of the largest ECIC backed lenders. The signing of this Mandate Letter is a major milestone for the Company and the Central African Republic. This event represents the fruition of months of work and is a key component of management’s expressed plan to bring the Passendro Mine into production. With the assistance of Endeavour Financial, we are in advanced discussions with additional debt facility arrangers for the balance of the funds.”
In connection with the Mandate Letter, AXMIN will issue to the MLA, subject to all regulatory and TSX Venture Exchange approvals, 25,000,000 common share purchase warrants (the “Warrants”), with each such warrant being exercisable for C$0.18 for a period of three years from the date of vesting. The Warrants are subject to acceleration by AXMIN in the event the 15 day volume weighted average price of the common shares of AXMIN is greater than C$0.30.
The Warrants will vest and become exercisable on the earlier of (a) the signature of the loan facility and (b) the cancellation of the Mandate Letter (unless the Mandate letter is cancelled due to (i) the failure to receive credit approval for the ECIC Facility by December 31, 2011; (ii) failure of ECIC to obtain board approval for the ECIC Facility by December 31, 2011; (iii) the MLA is unable to arrange and make available the loan facility for an amount of no less than US$100 million in accordance with the Mandate Letter and related term sheet; or (iv) the Mandate Letter is terminated in certain specified circumstances). The Warrants will be subject to a hold period of 4 months and one day from the date of issue and any shares issuable during such time period on the due exercise of the warrants will be subject to a hold period of 4 months and one day from the date of issue of the Warrants.
About AXMIN
AXMIN is a Canadian exploration and development company with a strong focus on central and West Africa. AXMIN has projects in Central African Republic, Mali, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Zambia. For more information regarding AXMIN visit our website at www.axmininc.com.
For additional information please contact AXMIN Inc.:
George Roach
President & CEO
Direct T:+44 779 626 3999
Judy Webster
Manager Investor Relations
T: 416 368 0993 ext 221
ir@axmininc.com
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This press release includes certain "Forward-Looking Statements." All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding future plans and objectives of AXMIN; and statements regarding the ability to develop and achieve production at Passendro, to revalidate the BFS and to satisfy the terms of the Mining Licence as negotiated, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from AXMIN's expectations have been disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in AXMIN’s documents filed from time-to-time with the TSX Venture Exchange and other regulatory authorities. AXMIN disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether resulting from new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
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