Phoenix, Arizona--(Newsfile Corp. - November 30, 2023) - Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX: MIN) (FSE: 3XS) (OTCQB: EXMGF) ("Excelsior" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it and its wholly-owned subsidiary Excelsior Mining Arizona, Inc. ("Excelsior Arizona") has agreed with Nebari Natural Resources Credit Fund I LP ("Nebari") to extend the maturity date of its existing $15 million credit facility to June 30, 2026. In addition, the Company has entered into agreements for a $5.5 million financing (the "Financing") with Greenstone and Triple Flag. All dollar amounts in this press release are in United States dollars.
Dr. Stephen Twyerould, President & CEO of Excelsior commented: "We are very pleased with the support from Nebari, Greenstone and Triple Flag for the execution of the Company's development and operating strategy. The loan extension and funding will allow Excelsior the runway to advance the Nuton Option on the Johnson Camp Mine and complete the preparation for the well stimulation program."
Credit Agreement Extension
The Company, Excelsior Arizona and Nebari have entered into a Third Amendment to the Amended and Restated Credit Agreement (the "Third Amended ARCA"). The Third Amended ARCA provides for the extension of the maturity date of the existing $15 million credit facility to June 30, 2026 (the "Extension"). Nebari has also agreed to reduce the interest rate (the "Rate Reduction") to 10.5% plus a rate supplement (the "Rate Supplement") equal to the greater of (i) the forward-looking secured overnight financing rate (administered by CME Group Benchmark Administration Limited or a successor administrator) for a tenor of 3 months and (ii) 1.50%.
As consideration for the Third Amended ARCA as it relates to the Extension and Rate Reduction, subject to Toronto Stock Exchange approval, the Company is required to issue common shares of the Company ("Common Shares") to nominees of Nebari in a number equal to US$1,050,224, converted to Canadian dollars at an exchange rate equal to the average market rate posted by the Bank of Canada for the 5 days preceding the issuance, divided by C$0.155 (US$0.11405). This amount includes a cash extension bonus plus an amount equal to the total additional amount of interest that would have been payable to the maturity date of the credit facility prior to the Rate Reduction.
In addition the early amortization of the credit facility has been extended such that the Company will begin amortizing the principal amount of the facility (and pro-rata repayment bonus (the "Repayment Bonus") amount that already exists under the credit facility) in monthly instalments payable on the last day of each month of (i) commencing June 2024 to and including December 2024, seven equal monthly installments of $206,000.00; (ii) commencing January 2025 to and including December 2025, twelve equal monthly installments of $257,500.00; and (iii) commencing January 2026 to June 2026, six equal monthly installments of $309,000.00.
The Third Amended ARCA is subject to certain conditions including completion of the Financing by December 31, 2023, conclusion of certain agreements with Triple Flag International Ltd. ("Triple Flag") and the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Financing
To satisfy the condition to complete the Financing under the Third Amended ARCA, the Company has agreed to a transaction with Triple Flag and Greenstone Excelsior Holdings LP ("Greenstone") on the following terms: (i) Greenstone shall sell 1.5% of its total 3% gross revenue royalty on the Johnson Camp Mine to Triple Flag for consideration of $5.5 million in cash (the "Royalty Sale"); and (ii) Greenstone will concurrently complete a $5.5 million financing with the Company that consists of $3.1 million in Common Shares (the "Share Offering") and $2.4 million principal amount of convertible debentures (the "Debenture Offering").
Pursuant to the Share Offering, the Company shall issue Greenstone a total of 27,180,000 Common Shares at a price of US$0.11405 (C$0.155) per Common Share for aggregate gross proceeds of $3.1 million.
Pursuant to the Debenture Offering, Greenstone will subscribe for a total of $2.4 million principal amount of convertible debentures (the "Debentures"). The terms of the Debentures include:
a maturity date of September 30, 2026 (the "Maturity Date") and the principal amount, together with any accrued and unpaid interest, will be payable on the Maturity Date, unless earlier converted in accordance with their terms;
the Debentures bear interest (the "Interest") at the rate of 10.5% per annum plus the Rate Supplement, which Interest will be payable on the Maturity Date, unless earlier converted into Common Shares;
subject to the receipt of disinterested shareholder approval from the holders of the Common Shares at a duly and validly call meeting (the "Shareholder Approval"), the principal amount of the Debenture is convertible into Common Shares at the option of the holder (or at the option of the Company on 30 days prior notice) at a conversion price of US$0.11405 per Common Share;
subject to receipt of the Shareholder Approval, the accrued and unpaid Interest is convertible into Common Shares at a conversion price equal to the volume weighted average trading price on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the five trading days prior to the date of conversion; and
the Debentures are unsecured.
The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Share Offering and Debenture Offering for project development expenses and working capital. The closing of the Share Offering and Debenture Offering is subject to customary conditions, including the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Additional Information
Nebari and Triple Flag are at arm's length to the Company. There are no commissions or finders' fees payable in connection with the transactions discussed in this news release. There is no assurance that the conditions to the Third Amended ARCA or closing of the Royalty Sale, Share Offering or Debenture Offering will be satisfied.
Greenstone and its affiliated entities currently hold 116,028,937 Common Shares (representing 41.86% of the Company's current issued and outstanding Common Shares). Greenstone also owns and controls 1,250,000 options to acquire Common Shares and a convertible debenture with principal amount of $1.5 million that is convertible into 7,894,736 Common Shares. Upon closing of the Debenture Offering and conversion of the Debentures held by Greenstone (assuming conversion of all interest payments on the maturity date, using a conversion price of US$0.11405 and a SOFR rate of 5.3307%), Greenstone would acquire ownership and control over an additional 57,383,369 Common Shares, representing approximately 20.7% of the Company's current issued and outstanding Common Shares. As a result, together with the Common Shares it currently owns and controls, Greenstone would hold a total of 173,412,306 Common Shares, which will represent, in aggregate approximately 51.83% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares (assuming conversion of only the Debentures held by Greenstone and assuming the conversion of all interest to maturity at US$0.11405).
Pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"), Greenstone's participation in the Debenture Offering constitutes a "related party transaction" as Greenstone is a related party of the Company. The Company is relying on an exemption from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI 61-101 pursuant to exemptions contained in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 on the basis that at the time Greenstone's participation in the Debenture Offering was agreed to, neither the fair market value of the securities to be distributed in the Debenture Offering nor the consideration to be received for those securities, insofar as the Debenture Offering involved the related party, exceeds 25% of the Company's market capitalization. The Company will not file a material change report related to this financing more than 21 days before the expected closing of the Debenture Offering as required by MI 61-101 since the details of the participation by the related parties of the Company were not settled until just prior to closing and the Company wished to close on an expedited basis for sound business reasons. The Common Shares that will be acquired by Greenstone will be acquired pursuant to an exemption from the prospectus requirement in section 2.3 of National Instrument 45-106.
In order to facilitate the completion of the Royalty Sale, Share Offering and Debenture Offering, the Company will first acquire the 1.5% gross revenue royalty on the Johnson Camp Mine from Greenstone in return for the Common Shares and Debenture and then transfer the royalty to Triple Flag for $5.5 million in cash. Also, a further condition of the Third Amended ARCA, the holders of the $3 million principal amount of convertible debentures issued by the Company in February 2023 have agreed to extend the maturity date of such convertible debentures to September 30, 2026.
Other activities in the Company remain on-track and on-budget. Refer to the October 23, 2023 press release for additional information.
ABOUT EXCELSIOR MINING
Excelsior "The Copper Solution Company" is a mineral exploration and production company that owns and operates the Gunnison Copper Project in Cochise County, Arizona. The project is a low cost, environmentally friendly in-situ recovery copper extraction project that is permitted to 125 million pounds per year of copper cathode production. Excelsior also owns the past producing Johnson Camp Mine and a portfolio of exploration projects, including the Peabody Sill and the Strong and Harris deposits.
Excelsior has entered into an agreement with Nuton LLC, a Rio Tinto venture, to further evaluate the use of its Nuton copper heap leaching technologies at Excelsior's Johnson Camp mine in Cochise County, Arizona. Under the agreement, Excelsior remains the operator and Nuton funds Excelsior's costs associated with a two-stage work program at Johnson Camp. Nuton has provided a US$3 million pre-payment to Excelsior for Stage 1 costs and a payment of US$2 million for an exclusive option to form a joint venture with Excelsior over the Johnson Camp Mine after the completion of Stage 2. If Nuton proceeds to Stage 2, it will make a US$5 million payment to Excelsior for the use of existing infrastructure at the Johnson Camp mine for the Stage 2 work program. Nuton will also be responsible for funding all of Excelsior's costs associated with Stage 2.
亞利桑那州鳳凰城--（新聞文件公司——2023年11月30日）——怡東礦業公司（多倫多證券交易所股票代碼：MIN）（FSE：3XS）（場外交易代碼：ExmGF）（“Excelsior” 或 “公司”）欣然宣佈，其及其全資子公司亞利桑那州怡東礦業有限公司（“Excelsior Arizona”）已與內巴里自然資源信貸基金I LP（“Excelsior Arizona”）達成協議 Nebari”）將其現有的1500萬美元信貸額度的到期日延長至2026年6月30日。此外，該公司已與Greenstone和Triple Flag簽訂了550萬美元的融資（“融資”）協議。本新聞稿中的所有美元金額均以美元計。
Excelsior總裁兼首席執行官Stephen Twyerould博士評論說：“我們對Nebari、Greenstone和Triple Flag爲執行公司發展和運營戰略提供的支持感到非常滿意。貸款延期和資金將使Excelsior能夠推進約翰遜營地礦山的Nuton Option，並完成油井刺激計劃的準備工作。”
信貸協議延期
公司、亞利桑那州Excelsior和Nebari已簽訂了經修訂和重述的信貸協議的第三修正案（“第三次修訂的ARCA”）。第三次修訂的ARCA規定將現有的1500萬美元信貸額度的到期日延長至2026年6月30日（“延期”）。內巴里還同意將利率（“降息”）降至10.5％，外加利率補助（“利率補充”），該利率等於（i）前瞻性有擔保隔夜融資利率（由芝加哥商品交易所集團基準管理有限公司或繼任管理人管理）中較高者，期限爲3個月，以及（ii）1.50％。
作爲與延期和降息有關的第三次修訂的ARCA的對價，在多倫多證券交易所批准的前提下，公司必須向內巴里的被提名人發行公司普通股（“普通股”），其數額等於1,050,224美元，匯率等於加拿大銀行在發行前5天公佈的平均市場匯率除以0.155加元（美元）0.11405)。該金額包括現金延期獎金以及一筆等於降息之前在信貸額度到期日之前本應支付的額外利息總額的金額。
此外，信貸額度的提前攤銷期限已延長，因此公司將開始按月分期償還貸款的本金（以及信貸額度下已經存在的按比例還款獎金（“還款獎金”），分期付款，在 (i) 從2024年6月起至2024年12月（含206,000.00美元）的每個月的最後一天支付；(ii) 從2025年1月起至2025年12月（含2025年12月），分十二次等額的每月分期付款，金額爲257,500.00美元；以及（iii）開始2026年1月至2026年6月，每月分六期等額分期付款，金額爲309,000.00美元。
第三次修訂的ARCA受某些條件的約束，包括在2023年12月31日之前完成融資、與三旗國際有限公司（“三國旗”）簽訂某些協議以及獲得多倫多證券交易所的批准。
融資
爲了滿足根據第三次修訂的ARCA完成融資的條件，公司已同意與Triple Flag和Greenstone Excelsior Holdings LP（“Greenstone”）進行交易，條件如下：（i）綠石將向Triple Flag出售其約翰遜營礦總收入3％特許權使用費的1.5％，以換取550萬美元的現金（“特許權使用費出售”）；以及（ii）Greenstone將同時出售與公司完成550萬美元的融資，其中包括310萬美元的普通股（“股票發行”）和240萬美元可轉換債券（“債券發行”）的本金。
根據股票發行，公司將以每股普通股0.11405美元（0.155加元）的價格發行共計27,18萬股普通股，總收益爲310萬美元。
根據債券發行，Greenstone將認購本金總額爲240萬美元的可轉換債券（“債券”）。債券的條款包括：
到期日爲2026年9月30日（“到期日”），本金以及任何應計和未付利息將在到期日支付，除非提前按照其條款進行轉換；
債券的利息（“利息”）爲每年10.5％，外加利率補助，除非提前轉換爲普通股，否則利息將在到期日支付；
在正式有效的電話會議（“股東批准”）上獲得普通股持有人的無私股東批准（“股東批准”）後，債券的本金可由持有人選擇（或公司在提前30天發出通知後選擇）轉換爲普通股，轉換價格爲每股普通股0.11405美元；
在獲得股東批准的前提下，應計和未付利息可轉換爲普通股，其轉換價格等於轉換日前五個交易日多倫多證券交易所成交量加權平均交易價格；以及
債券是無抵押的。
公司打算將股票發行和債券發行的收益用於項目開發費用和營運資金。股票發行和債券發行的結束受慣例條件的約束，包括多倫多證券交易所的批准。
附加信息
Nebari 和 Triple Flag 與公司保持一定距離。本新聞稿中討論的交易無需支付任何佣金或發現費。無法保證第三次修訂的ARCA或特許權使用費出售、股票發行或債券發行的結束的條件會得到滿足。
格林斯通及其關聯實體目前持有116,028,937股普通股（佔公司當前已發行和流通普通股的41.86％）。格林斯通還擁有並控制收購普通股的125萬份期權和可轉換債券，本金爲150萬美元，可轉換爲7,894,736股普通股。在債券發行和格林斯通持有的債券轉換結束後（假設在到期日轉換所有利息，轉換價格爲0.11405美元，SOFR利率爲5.3307％），綠石將獲得另外57,383,369股普通股的所有權和控制權，約佔公司當前已發行和流通普通股的20.7％。因此，加上其目前擁有和控制的普通股，格林斯通將共持有173,412,306股普通股，總共約佔已發行和流通普通股的51.83％（假設僅轉換綠石持有的債券，假設所有利息轉換爲到期日利息爲0.11405美元）。
根據61-101號多邊文書——在特殊交易中保護少數證券持有人（“MI 61-101”），格林斯通參與債券發行構成 “關聯方交易”，因爲格林斯通是公司的關聯方。根據MI 61-101第5.5（a）和5.7（1）（a）節中包含的豁免，該公司依賴MI 61-101的正式估值和少數股東批准要求的豁免，其依據是，在同意格林斯通參與債券發行時，既沒有債券發行中要分配的證券的公允市場價值，也沒有這些證券將獲得的對價，由於債券發行涉及關聯方，超過公司市值的25％。根據MI 61-101的要求，公司不會在債券發行預計結束前21天內提交與本次融資相關的重大變更報告，因爲公司關聯方參與的細節直到收盤前才確定，而且出於合理的業務原因，公司希望加快關閉。格林斯通將要收購的普通股將根據國家儀器45-106第2.3節中招股說明書要求的豁免進行收購。
爲了促進特許權使用費出售、股票發行和債券發行的完成，公司將首先從格林斯通手中收購約翰遜營地礦1.5％的總收入特許權使用費，以換取普通股和債券，然後以550萬美元現金將特許權使用費轉讓給Triple Flag。此外，第三次修訂的ARCA的另一個條件是，公司於2023年2月發行的300萬美元本金可轉換債券的持有人同意將此類可轉換債券的到期日延長至2026年9月30日。
公司的其他活動仍按計劃進行，符合預算。有關更多信息，請參閱 2023 年 10 月 23 日的新聞稿。
關於 EXCELSIOR 礦業
Excelsior “銅解決方案公司” 是一家礦產勘探和生產公司，在亞利桑那州科奇斯縣擁有並運營甘尼森銅業項目。該項目是一個低成本、環保的原位回收銅開採項目，每年允許生產1.25億磅的銅陰極。Excelsior還擁有過去生產的約翰遜營地礦和一系列勘探項目，包括皮博迪西爾礦以及斯特朗和哈里斯礦牀。
Excelsior已與力拓合資企業Nuton LLC簽訂協議，進一步評估其在亞利桑那州科奇斯縣Excelsior約翰遜營地礦山使用其Nuton銅堆浸出技術的情況。根據該協議，Excelsior仍然是運營商，Nuton爲Excelsior與約翰遜營地兩階段工作計劃相關的費用提供資金。Nuton已向Excelsior提供了300萬美元的第一階段費用預付款，並支付了200萬美元，用於在第二階段完成後與Excelsior就約翰遜營地礦成立合資企業的獨家選擇權。如果Nuton進入第二階段，它將向Excelsior支付500萬美元，用於使用約翰遜營地礦山的現有基礎設施，用於第二階段工作計劃。納頓還將負責爲Excelsior與第二階段相關的所有費用提供資金。
