Cora Gold Ltd (LON:CORA), the West African focused gold company, has provided an update on the financing arrangements to support the development of its flagship Sanankoro Gold Project in south Mali.
On 17 April 2026 Cora announced that it had entered a binding term sheet for a US$120 million gold stream with Eagle Eye Asset Holdings Pte. Ltd. to support the development of Sanankoro through to production. In accordance with the Term Sheet, EEA is entitled, for the life of mine, to purchase 30.44% of gold production (reducing to 15.22% if 50% of the Stream is replaced with traditional senior debt) at a price equal to 20% of the prevailing spot gold price. The Term Sheet sets out the right of the Company, for a period of up to 240 days following receipt of all required approvals, to replace 50% of the Stream with traditional senior debt. The Term Sheet remains subject to certain conditions, including the negotiation and execution of definitive documentation, and receipt of any regulatory approvals identified during due diligence. In the event that the Stream transaction does not complete then Eagle Eye shall be entitled to a residual stream equal to 2.5% of all gold produced by the Sanankoro mine and the related process plant.
Subsequent to entering into the Term Sheet, Cora appointed H&P Advisory Limited (‘Hannam & Partners’) to act as financial adviser in relation to the proposed debt raising for the purposes of Sanankoro. Together Hannam & Partners and the Company have been actively engaging with various West African focused banks with a view to providing traditional senior debt of US$60 million to the Project. These discussions have been positive and are ongoing. The Company anticipates formalising one or more of these opportunities in due course. As a result, EEA and Cora have mutually agreed, by way of an addendum to the Term Sheet, to increase the maximum period for which the Company may extend its right to replace 50% of the Stream with traditional senior debt from what would have been 15 December 2026 to the later of (i) 30 October 2027 and (ii) 6-months after the date on which the mining rights permit is granted by the government of Mali.
The Company continues to have ongoing constructive engagement with the authorities in Mali regarding permitting and the award of a mining rights permit for Sanankoro. On 21 August 2026, at a meeting of the Government of the Republic of Mali’s Council of Ministers, the first interim renewal of the Sanankoro II exploration permit was approved (see announcement dated 24 August 2026). The Company believes this approval represents a significant step towards being awarded a mining permit for Sanankoro and, in due course, the area of the Sanankoro II exploration permit will form part of the permit area for mining operations at the Project.
Related Party Transaction
The arrangements between the Company and EEA regarding the Stream constitute a related party transaction pursuant to Rule 13 of the AIM Rules. Having consulted with the Company’s Nominated Adviser, Cavendish Capital Markets Limited, the Directors of the Company (with the exception of Aryann Gupta (Non-Executive Director), who is involved in the transaction as the appointed representative of EEA on Cora’s board of directors) consider that the terms of the transaction are fair and reasonable insofar as its shareholders are concerned.
EEA is interested in 228,452,356 ordinary shares of Cora, representing 29.85% of the issued share capital of the Company.
Bert Monro, Chief Executive Officer of Cora, commented: “We continue to be encouraged by the positive appetite shown by a number of West African focused banks to provide traditional senior debt to Cora’s Sanankoro Gold Project. The recent approval of the Sanankoro II exploration permit renewal, a significant step towards being awarded a mining permit, further underpins these discussions as Sanankoro moves closer to construction. We look forward to concluding these discussions and providing the market with further updates in due course.”
“Blending traditional senior debt alongside the Stream to fund the development of Sanankoro is expected to enhance the Project’s economics. EEA, Cora’s largest shareholder, continues to offer strong support both for the Company and the Project, and their flexibility is greatly appreciated.”
