Curis Resources gets $40M loan for Pinal County copper mine

Curis Resources Ltd. says it has finalized a $40 million loan for its contentious underground copper mining project in Pinal County. Vancouver-based Curis said it has executed the loan deal with RK Mine Finance Trust I for its Florence Copper Project. The finance group is part of Red Kite Group, an international finance group that finances and lends to mines and the metals industry. The loan deal has Red Kite providing Curis the $40 million loan with interest payable at LIBOR plus 8 percent maturing two years after the closing date. That indicates some risk associated with the deal, which faces business, political and legal opposition in Pinal County. “The agreement allows us to focus on the company’s key near-term objectives of completing project permitting, engineering and the start of construction of the Phase 1 Production Test facility,” said Curis president Michael McPhie. The copper project has support from Gov. Jan Brewer and pledges to bring jobs to Florence. It faces opposition from real estate and developer interests who own land near the Pinal mining site. The town of Florence and the Gila River Indian Community also worry about the FCP’s potential impact on ground water.

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