ICBC provides a $340 million USD loan for the Middlemount Coal Project

Project narrative

In or around December 2010, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) entered into a $340 million USD loan facility agreement with Boardwalk Sienna Pty Ltd — an Australia-incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV) and wholly owned subsidiary of Boardwalk Resources Pty Ltd, an investment vehicle of Australian mining executive Nathan Tinkler — for the Middlemount Coal Project. The proceeds were to be used by the borrower for the Middlemount Coal Project, a coal exploration project located in central Queensland covering about 120 square kilometers, specifically located adjacent to the town of Middlemount and 100 kilometers south of Moranbah, on the EPC 1033 mining exploration tenement consisting of 32 sub-blocks covering 10,080 hectares. Middlemount included the Sienna and Electra Coal Projects and other associated assets in Queensland's Bowen Basin. On December 17, 2010, Boardwalk Sienna entered into a binding Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Norton Gold Fields Limited (NGF) — an Australia gold explorer and producer — for the acquisition of the EPC 1033 mining exploration tenement, which held the assets of the Middlemount Coal Project. The sale of Middlemount was completed in March 2011. In December 2011, Whitehaven Coal agreed to purchase Boardwalk Resources. It is unclear whether the ICBC loan proceeded for the project.