Tri-Star Resources rises on roaster permit approval

20th Feb 2015 12:21

Tri-Star Resources, the AIM-listed antimony miner, has won a key permit from the Omani government that will allow construction activities for its Oman Antimony Roaster (OAR) project to begin.Strategic & Precious Metals Processing (SPMP), the Omani company that owns OAR and in which Tri-Star has a 40% stake, has received a provisional environmental permit from Oman's Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs for the OAR project and the SPMP leased site in the Sohar free-trade zone."The permit enables SPMP to commence construction activities and proceed with the businesses activities of SPMP," Tri-Star said.The permit will need to be renewed annually before construction is complete, following which a temporary operating permit will be applied for by SPMP before final completion of construction. This follows from the debt offer of $40m being extended to SPMP by Bank Nizwa earlier in the week, which is part of overall funding of the OAR project that will include $10m mezzanine package and $20m of equity contribution between the partners.Broker SP Angel said this was another positive development for Tri-Star following the announcement of the debt offer earlier this week."This puts Tri-Star Resources and their partners in SPMP on course to start building the roaster. The main focus for the company and its valuation is centred on the roaster."The roaster offers potential for high margins through the treatment of antimony concentrates from third party antimony mines to produce a combination of antimony ingots and antimony tri-oxide. Getting the roaster into production will be a major achievement for Tri-Star and should crystallise value."