Our partnership with NAIF & the Queensland Government is adding an inflationary hedge and sector diversification to our private credit portfolio.
- In partnership with NAIF (Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility) and the Queensland Government’s Invested in Queensland program, this week we reached contractual close on a $108m senior secured facility with Merricks Capital Partners Fund allocation $42m to fund Heritage Minerals that will establish resource processing facilities to extract gold from existing tailings and environmentally rehabilitate Mount Morgan.
- The historic gold mine site is located 30km from Rockhampton, Queensland. The project includes building a tailings processing plant and a new water treatment facility to improve water quality in the Dee River. It will create up to 250 direct construction jobs and 150 operational jobs.
- Heritage Minerals is an experienced, private resource company that holds 100% of the Mount Morgan mine site. The site had been held in care and maintenance by the Queensland Government, who sought a commercial arrangement to take over the mine, process the significant reserve of gold tailings and provide assistance with the rehabilitation of the site. Unique to this project is that the existing environmental liability of the mine remains with the State of Queensland.
- We’ve completed eight months of due diligence on this opportunity, leveraging our internal experience in gold projects and external relationships. Gold is currently at a record high of AUD$3,100 per ounce, 71% higher than pre-COVID levels, buoyed by surging inflation and higher interest rates. Locking in the future gold price at levels that underpin the commercial viability of the project is a key feature of our investment risk management and the underlying credit.
- The investment has a 17.5% IRR* to investors and is expected to be fully repaid by amortisation within three years of operation (April 2028 loan expiry).
* The internal rate of return (IRR) is a metric used in financial analysis to estimate the profitability of potential investments
