Ashurst advises on Thunderbird Mineral Sands Project
13 October 2022
The project financing comprised of:
- A$160 million secured term loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility; and
- US$110 million Loan Note Subscription Agreement from Orion and a 25 year royalty linked to production from the Project.
The Thunderbird Mineral Sands Project is now fully funded through to first production. Construction is more than 40% complete and first shipment is expected to occur in Q1 2024.
The Project, located in the North of Western Australia, is one of the largest and highest grade mineral sands discoveries in the last 30 years, and will generate a high-quality suite of mineral sands concentrate products to meet market demands. Products include a zircon concentrate and a magnetic concentrate that contains a high quality ilmenite suitable smelting into chloride slag or for manufacturing titanium dioxide pigment.
The Ashurst team was led by partner Gaelan Cooney and included: partner Cassandra Wee, counsel Marina Tinning, senior associate Zoe Woolford, and associates Rebecca Bahrami, Madeleine Agar and Dominique Roth (International Projects Group); partner Caroline Smart (Global Markets); partner Andrew Gay, counsel Cheyne Jansen and Michael Voros; senior associates Sam Gillis and Jacinta Pitos, and associates Laura Mwiragua, Alysha McCuish and Jordan Soresi (Planning, Access and Environment); partners Ian Kellock and Sanjay Wavde, counsel Bronwyn Kirkwood, senior associate Julia Bolodurina, and associates Laura Scro and Elizabeth John (Tax); partner Anita Cade, senior associate Stevie Gough and associate Ray Cheng (IP/Media); partners Matthew Blycha and Catherine Pedler, and senior associates Edwina Jones and Suzannah Bahen-Wright (Dispute Resolution); partner Carl Della-Bosca, counsel Ben Stewart and associate Daniel Lucanus (Corporate Transactions); senior associate Karen Bailey (Transport and Infrastructure); associate Donald Mak (Global Loans, Hong Kong); partner Jacques McChesney (High Yield Debt, London); senior associate Michelle Gaynor (International Projects Group, London); and junior associate Vanessa Hung (Dispute Resolution, Hong Kong).
