Mining

• Advising Pan American Energy on the acquisition of lithium assets in Argentina.
• Advising CBG on the $1.1-billion expansion of its Sangaredi bauxite mine in western Guinea, including in connection with the project financing, the subsequent multi-user rail financing, its construction delivery documents, offtake agreements and the first of a kind infrastructure sharing arrangements between CBG and its neighboring mining companies.*
• Advising Anglo American Marketing Limited and a Kimura fund in connection with Anglo American’s copper offtake and linked development financing provided to Minera Tres Valles SpA in Chile.*
• Advising a major Chinese metals company in its successful acquisition of a 49% interest in a tungsten deposit in Kazakhstan from the Hong Kong-based owner for $200 million.
• Advising an ad hoc group of senior unsecured creditors in relation to the $3.5-billion financial restructuring of commodities trader Noble Group. The restructuring received several awards, including Deal of the Year at the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) Asia-Pacific Awards and Finance Deal of the Year: Insolvency and Restructuring at the Asia Legal Awards.
• Advising Turquoise Hill Resources on the $6-billion development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia, including in relation to the project financing, inter-shareholder matters with Rio Tinto and the government of Mongolia and the delivery of a long-term domestic power solution for the mine.*
• Advising Asanko on the project financing provided by Red Kite of its Esaase and Obotan gold projects in Ghana.*
• Advising Nedbank and Rand Merchant Bank with a bridge facility and senior ECIC debt facility for the financing of the construction and development of the Kipoi copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.*
• Advising on the restructuring of the MOMA mineral sands project in Mozambique, including in relation to the provision of new-money debt facilities and debt for equity swaps.*
• Advising Bluejay Mining Plc on its innovative JV with KoBold Metals, a mineral exploration company using machine learning to guide exploration for deposits rich in the critical materials required for electric vehicles (EVs). The JV allows for the exploration of the Disko-Nuussuaq nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum magmatic sulphide project in Greenland.*
• Advising Cornish Lithium on the sale of offtake and marketing rights with respect to Cornish Lithium’s Trelavour mine in Cornwall, United Kingdom.*
• Advising the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Oman on the $150-million project financing of Bacanora Minerals’ Sonora Lithium Project in Mexico.*
• Advising Ecora Resources (previously Anglo Pacific Group) on the acquisition of a stream in connection with the toll milling of certain Cigar Lake ore by the McClean Lake mill in Canada.*
• Advising Alufer Mining Limited on the project financing and offtake arrangements from Orion Mine Finance Fund in relation to its bauxite mine in Guinea.*
• Advising the lenders with respect to the financing and subsequent restructuring and enforcement in connection with the Tonkolili iron project in Sierra Leone.*
• Advising Warrior Met Coal, a leading producer and exporter of metallurgical coal in the steel industry, in corporate, securities and financing matters, including its initial public offering, high yield bond offerings and credit agreement financings.
• Advising Peabody Energy Corporation, in defending Peabody’s proposed JV with Arch Resources Inc. through the regulatory process and in federal litigation against the Federal Trade Commission. The JV would have combined the two largest producers of coal in the Powder River Basin, giving it about 70% share of coal production in that basin.
• Advising Deutsche Bank AG in relation to a $100-million loan to Palabora Mining Company Limited, a publicly traded mining company headquartered in South Africa.
• Advising an informal group of senior secured first lien lenders and noteholders, debtor-in-possession lenders and stalking horse purchaser of a substantial portion of the core mining assets of Walter Energy, a leading producer and exporter of metallurgical coal in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, in a credit bid transaction, as part of Walter Energy’s $3.15-billion restructuring.

*Matters handled by Akin lawyers prior to joining the firm.