Alderon Iron Ore announced an update on the progress of its financing plan for the Kami Project. Alderon and BNP Paribas (BNP) have mutually agreed to terminate the engagement of BNP as lead arranger of the senior debt financing facility for the construction of the Kami Project.

Alderon said it has appointed Endeavour Financial to act as its financial advisor with respect to the project financing process and intends to form a club syndicate of international banks to provide the senior debt financing facility.

The process with BNP identified a number of domestic and international banks, including Chinese banks that provided letters confirming their interest in participating in the senior debt financing facility. The termination of BNP’s engagement will allow the company to move forward in forming this club syndicate of banks, with the assistance of Endeavour Financial.

“We have made significant progress working with BNP Paribas on the debt financing process and in our view the due diligence reports that have been completed demonstrate the quality of the Kami Project, says Mark J. Morabito, Alderon’s executive chairman. We have decided that the best path forward for the debt financing process would be to focus on a club syndicate transaction. We have informed BNP of this decision and they have agreed to terminate the BNP engagement. The team from Endeavour Financial has an excellent track record in assisting companies in completing debt financings and with the significant amount of work that has already been accomplished, I am confident that we will deliver on our financing plan.”