GUYANA Goldfields (GGI) has obtained a first draw-down  in the sum of US$42.6M in connection with the US$185M loan to fund the development and construction of the Aurora Gold Project, Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni).

Announcing this yesterday, the Company also disclosed  that  subsequent payments are  expected to be received on a monthly basis, established on project funding requirements.
GGI completed its loan arrangements  with several lenders to fully finance the Aurora Gold project  in September last.
The loan  facility consists of two tranches: a Tranche 1 facility of US$160M and a Tranche 2 cost overrun facility of US$25M.
The maximum term of the Facility is eight years, and advances under the Facility bear a weighted average interest rate of three-month LIBOR (London Inter Bank Offerred Rate)  plus 5.11% for Tranche 1 facility, and advances under the Tranche 2 facility would bear interest at the same average range of rates plus 0.5% (if drawn).

LIBOR  are benchmark interest rates for many adjustable business loans and financial instruments traded on the global financial market.

Guyana Goldfields Inc.  disclosed that there are no gold-hedging requirements or other similar provisions associated with the facility.
Scott Caldwell, President & Chief Executive Officer of GGI stated, “We are pleased to have fulfilled all conditions related to the Facility in order to obtain first drawdown. The construction schedule is approximately 40% complete and we currently have over 500 people working at site, majority of which are Guyanese nationals, with this rapidly expanding to 900 people by the end of the year in order to support construction efforts and our timeline of reaching commercial production by mid-2015.
The Aurora Gold Project is said to have a total gold resource of 6.54 million ounces in the measured and indicated categories (62.83 million tonnes at 3.24 grammes per tonne gold ( g/t Au) as well as an additional 1.82 million ounces in the inferred category (16.93 million tonnes at 3.34 g/t Au).