Steppe Gold Draw Downs US$40.4M for the Phase 2 Expansion of the ATO Gold Mine

About this update from Steppe Gold Ltd.

[{"type":"text","content":"Steppe Gold Draw Downs US$40.4M for the Phase 2 Expansion of the ATO Gold MineUlaanbaatar, Mongolia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 26, 2024) - Steppe Gold Ltd. (TSX: STGO) (OTCQX: STPGF) (FSE: 2J9) (\"Steppe Gold\" or the \"Company\") is pleased to announce it has reached the next financing milestone for the Phase 2 Expansion at the 100% owned ATO Gold Mine (the \"ATO Phase 2 Expansion\"). This coincides with further progress on the turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction contract (the \"EPC Contract\"), and the second project finance draw down of US$40.4m.HighlightsSecond draw down of US$40.4m from the project finance package, was funded on March 20, 2024, with a total of $50m has been drawn from the first tranche of the US$150m project finance package since October 2023.Steppe Gold has now made its second milestone payment of US$37m towards Phase 2 Expansion for procurement of major long lead items, mobilization costs, early construction works and foundational work. The major long lead items include the flotations cells, grinding mills, cluster cyclones, thickener units, filters and pumping systems.The ATO Phase 2 Expansion is proceeding according to projected timelines and budgets, with commissioning planned for Q1 2026.Further to the announcement on January 9, 2024, the Company confirms that the contract amount payable to Hexagon for the full performance of the work under the EPC Contract is approximately $148.4 million (\"Contract Amount\").The Phase 2 Expansion of US$150M is fully funded by the project finance package that has been made available to the Company and its affiliates by TDB Capital and the Trade and Development Bank of Mongolia.Mr. Bataa Tumur-Ochir, Steppe Gold Chairman and CEO, commented, \"We are extremely pleased to report solid progress on our ATO Phase 2 Expansion, and we have now fully drawn down the first $50m of the project financing package. With this major drawdown, together with our EPC partners at Hexagon, we can accelerate the ordering of long lead items, early construction and foundational works and start mobilization. Upon completion of the ATO Phase 2 Expansion and Boroo Gold acquisition, Steppe Gold is estimated to produce over 160,000 ounces by 2026.\"Project FinancingOn July 11, 2023, the Company signed a binding term sheet with the TDB Group for US$150m in financing to fund the constr...

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