OREANDA-NEWS. December 17, 2007.  SMR group, the metals and mining business owned by Basic Element will receive the first tranche of the loan from a club of international banks including ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, ING and Raiffeisen.  The total size of the loan is $100 million.  BNP Paribas is acting as Facility Agent on the loan.
 
The loan is structured as a classical pre-export finance facility and is secured by Molybdenum export receivables.  The loan has a tenor of three years. Strikeforce  Mining and Resources Ltd, the holding company of the group was the Borrower under the credit facility. SMR has defined the use of funds primarily to finance its investment projects including the company's planned expansion of its molybdenum production by 10% per annum for the next two years. 
 
Dr. Geoff Cowley, the company's CEO, said the loan was the company's first major step in the international financial markets. "The company's vision is to grow as diversified metals company through internal projects and acquisitions, and included in our strategy to achieve this is improving our reputation with the financial stakeholders and better access to capital. Our first steps I believe have been positively received given the status of the lending banks". 
 
Enna Pariset, Managing Director, Head of Metals & Mining Investment Banking Russia/CIS, at BNP Paribas, commented: "We are very pleased to arrange a debut international bank financing for SMR, the leading Russian ferromolybdenum producer and one of the future jewels of the Basic Element group.  The contemplated financing is non recourse to the Basic Element group, demonstrating banks' comfort in SMR's ability to grow and generate strong and steady cash-flows thanks to its unparalleled ferromolybdenum producing capabilities."