Tag Archives: equipment leasing

Marathon taps Caterpillar Finance for equipment lease at Valentine gold project

Marathon Gold Corp says it has executed a credit-approved commitment letter with Caterpillar Financial Services Limited for equipment lease financing related to the development and operation of the Valentine gold project in Newfoundland, Canada.

The commitment letter with Cat Financial contemplates $81 million of equipment leasing for Caterpillar trucks, excavators, graders, loaders and dozers, for the purpose of loading, hauling, road maintenance, waste dump maintenance and primary pit support for the project.

The lease will be available to the company upon release of the project from its federal Environment Assessment process, review of the project’s updated feasibility study, satisfaction of a cost to complete certification and other customary conditions, Marathon Gold said.

An April 2021 feasibility study outlined an open-pit mining and conventional milling operation at Valentine with a 2.5 Mt/y processing rate over a 13-year mine life with a 31.5% after-tax internal rate of return and initial capital costs of C$305 million ($237 million). The project has estimated Proven reserves of 1.40 Moz (29.68 Mt at 1.46 g/t) and Probable reserves of 650,000 oz (17.38 Mt at 1.17 g/t).

Matt Manson, President and CEO of Marathon, said: “We are very happy to be announcing today our equipment leasing commitment with Cat Financial, another significant milestone in our project financing arrangements for the Valentine Gold Project. This agreement will provide financing for the project’s mobile mining equipment through project development and into the first several years of mining operations at an attractive overall cost of capital for Marathon.”

The lease announcement follows hot on the heels of Marathon Gold signing a Letter of Intent with SNC-Lavalin to complete detailed engineering for the project’s mill and major facilities, and develop related equipment and construction packages.

Alio Gold looks to new loading and hauling equipment for production boost

Alio Gold has signed lease agreements for the acquisition of new loading and hauling equipment at the Florida Canyon mine, in Nevada, USA.

The fleet is comprised of thirteen 90-t haul trucks and three matched wheel loaders, Alio said.

On top of this, a maintenance and services contract has been signed that provides guaranteed mechanical availability of the new fleet and encompasses all required maintenance activities over the life of the lease agreement, according to the company.

Both agreements are for approximately five years, depending on the actual hours of operation, after which the equipment can be purchased for some $2 million, Alio said, adding that the existing fleet will be retired as the new fleet becomes operational.

“Florida Canyon is well advanced on commissioning the new fleet with four trucks and one loader currently production ready; five additional trucks and one loader are currently on site in various stages of assembly; and the remaining four trucks and loader are due for delivery in October,” the company said.

Alio acquired the Florida Canyon gold mine during a business combination transaction with Rye Patch Gold in 2018. The heap leach operation produced 47,353 oz of gold and 31,993 oz of silver in 2018.

Mark Backens, President and CEO of Alio Gold, said acquiring the new loading and haulage fleet removed the primary cause for the underperformance of the mine.

“With availability now guaranteed, we will be better able to achieve our production objectives,” he said. “Once the fleet is fully operational in November, we expect to see increased ore movement leading to higher gold production and lower cash costs. We look forward to providing the market additional guidance for 2020 once the new equipment is fully operational.”

In addition, Florida Canyon has received all required permits to initiate construction of the second heap leach pad. Contractor mobilisation has commenced, and long lead-time items have been ordered. Construction is expected to take around six months and could be completed in stages to facilitate early placement and leaching of ore.

“Receipt of the construction permit for the second phase of the leach pads is a major milestone for Florida Canyon and positions the company nicely for increased profitable production in 2020,” Backens added.