Atlas Salt financing LOIs exceed C$300m with Sandvik and new export credit agency

Atlas Salt has taken non-binding financing interest for its Great Atlantic Salt Project above C$300m after Sandvik advanced an equipment-finance proposal into a formal letter of interest and a second export credit agency indicated potential support of up to C$75m.

The Newfoundland project developer announced both developments on 1 September as it works towards a wider financing package expected to include commercial banks, vendor finance and export-credit support. Neither of the new letters constitutes a committed financing facility.

Sandvik’s new letter covers equipment financing of up to approximately C$79m. Around C$45m would relate to capital equipment for the project’s underground mobile mining fleet, with the balance potentially supporting equipment leasing during the initial years of operation.

That should be distinguished from the broader C$132m equipment and services scope disclosed under Atlas Salt’s expanded Sandvik memorandum in February. The latest development narrows part of that relationship into a specific potential financing amount rather than committing the entire supplier package.

Atlas has separately received a non-binding letter from an unnamed government-owned export credit agency indicating potential financing of up to C$75m. The company said the prospective support reflects qualifying export content arising from the expected Sandvik equipment supply. The agency’s identity has not been disclosed.

Those indications sit alongside Export Development Canada’s previously announced letter expressing interest in up to C$150m of secured debt. EDC’s July letter was also non-binding and subject to due diligence, credit approval and definitive documentation.

Taken together, Atlas says financing letters of interest now exceed C$300m. The company is targeting approximately C$350m to C$400m of senior secured debt, potentially supplemented with subordinate financing.

The emerging structure shows how a capital-intensive mining project can assemble funding from several layers. Vendor finance can fund equipment, export-credit agencies can support eligible cross-border procurement, and a commercial bank syndicate can provide the broader project debt.

The remaining gap is execution. None of the disclosed letters is a binding commitment, and pricing, maturities, intercreditor terms and the final bank syndicate have yet to be agreed.