FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS
RELEASE
Nord Resources Corporation
1 Wetmore Road, Suite 203
Tucson, Arizona 85705
Tel: (520) 292-0266 Fax: (520) 292-0268
Nord Resources Corporation Announces
Execution of Project Financing Credit Agreement and
Commencement of Restart of the Johnson Camp Copper Mine
July 5, 2007
SOURCE: Nord Resources
Corporation
TUCSON, Arizona., July 5, 2007
- Mr. Ronald Hirsch, Chairman of the board of Directors of Nord Resources
Corporation ("Nord") (Other OTC:
NRDS.PK - News) announced
that Nord has entered into a Credit Agreement dated as of June 28, 2007 (the
“Credit Agreement”) with Nedbank Limited (“Nedbank”),
as administrative agent and lead arranger, and that the Company has commenced
the restart of its Johnson Camp Copper Mine project in Arizona.
The Credit Agreement
The Credit Agreement provides for a $25 million secured term loan credit facility
that will be used by Nord to assist in financing the construction, start-up
and operation of the Johnson Camp Mine. The Credit Agreement contemplates
a series of term loans to be funded from time to time by a syndicate of lenders
in response to draw-down requests by Nord, with the aggregate amount of all
term loans being $25 million. The term loans will be available until the earlier
of: (i) the date of termination of the Lender commitments; (ii) the first
principal repayment date; and (iii) June 30, 2008. The loans bear interest,
payable in arrears, at an annual rate equal to the LIBOR rate for the interest
period in effect plus a margin of 3.0% (3.5% during the initial reactivation
period). In the event that Nord defaults under the Credit Agreement, an additional
3.0% interest will be payable in addition to such annual rate and all interest
will be payable on demand.
The Credit Agreement is secured by a first charge against all of Nord’s
assets and will be repaid beginning one year after the first drawdown and
ending four years after the date of the first draw down, subject to certain
prepayment obligations set forth in the Credit Agreement.
The obligations of each lender to fund the term loans under the Credit Agreement
are subject to certain conditions as set forth in the Credit Agreement. On
June 5, 2007, Nord completed an unregistered private placement offering of
30,666,700 special warrants for aggregate proceeds of approximately US$23
million (net proceeds of approximately $21.5 million). This offering satisfied
one of the conditions precedent to draw downs under the Credit Agreement,
namely, that Nord shall have received additional equity financing of at least
$23,000,000 on terms acceptable to Nedbank.
Commencement of Restart of the Johnson Camp Copper Mine
Nord’s management believes that the proceeds of the special warrant
financing and the credit facility available under the Credit Agreement will
be sufficient to meet the capital requirements to reactivate the Johnson Camp
Mine in accordance with the mine plan and mine development schedule outlined
in the feasibility study for the Mine. Accordingly, on June 28, 2007, Nord’s
Board of Directors adopted a resolution authorizing Nord to proceed with the
reactivation of the Johnson Camp Mine in accordance with the mine plan.
The Johnson Camp Copper Mine project consists of two open pit mines, leaching
facilities, a solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) plant and other ancillary
facilities. The current reactivation plan includes estimated production of
25 million pounds of copper cathodes per annum with an initial capital cost
of $28 million. Nord’s goal is to complete the first copper cathode
sale by December 2007. In addition to reactivating copper production at Johnson
Camp Mine project, Nord also intends to commence further exploratory drilling
on the Johnson Camp property in mid-July.
For information contact:
John T. Perry, President and CEO (520) 292-0266
Forward-Looking Statement Disclaimer
This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created
by such legislation. All statements in this release, other than statements
of historical facts, that address future financing, development and mining
activities of Nord are forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause
actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements
include: the market price of copper; the costs and timing to re-activate the
Johnson Camp Mine; and general economic, market and business conditions. In
addition, there are numerous activities that need to be completed to facilitate
reactivation of the Johnson Camp Mine, including, without limitation, optimizing
the mine plan, successful negotiation of contracts for the supply of power,
for sale of copper and for shipping, and handling any other infrastructure
issues. At the same time, Nord must recruit and train additional personnel,
and hire and mobilize a mining contractor who will purchase all the required
large scale mining equipment Nord does not already own. There is no certainty
that Nord will be able to retain a suitable mining contractor on a timely
basis, if at all, or that it will be able to negotiate supply and sales agreements
on terms acceptable to it. Investors are cautioned that any such statements
are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments
may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements.
In addition, Nord’s business and operations are subject to the risks
set forth in Nord’s most recent Form 10-KSB, Form 10-QSB and other SEC
filings which are available through EDGAR at www.sec.gov.
These are among the primary risks we foresee at the present time. Nord assumes
no obligation to update the forward-looking statements.