Ivanhoe Electric Receives Indication for Up to $825 Million in Financing from Export-Import Bank of the United States for Santa Cruz Copper Project United States Government Support Reinforces Strategic Importance of Santa Cruz Copper Project in Enhancing Domestic Copper
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April 15, 2025
Ivanhoe Electric Receives Indication for Up to $825 Million in
Financing from Export-Import Bank of the United States for Santa
Cruz Copper Project
United States Government Support Reinforces Strategic Importance
of Santa Cruz Copper Project in Enhancing Domestic Copper
Supply
Santa Cruz Copper Project Preliminary Feasibility Study on Track
for June Completion
Project Permitting, Financing, and Detailed Engineering Rapidly
Advancing Towards Construction
PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Ivanhoe Electric Inc. (“Ivanhoe Electric”) (NYSE American: IE;
TSX: IE) Executive Chairman Robert Friedland and President and Chief Executive
Officer Taylor Melvin are pleased to announce the receipt of a Letter of Interest from the
Export-Import Bank of the United States (“EXIM Bank”) outlining the potential to provide
up to $825 million in debt financing with a 15 year repayment tenor for the development
of Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona through EXIM Bank’s Make
More in America initiative.
EXIM Bank is the official export credit agency of the United States. It is a government
agency that offers financial support to companies through means such as direct loans
and loan guarantees, working capital guarantees, and export credit insurance. EXIM
Bank’s Make More in America initiative and its China and Transformational Exports
Program are designed to boost United States’ competitiveness, strengthen supply
chains, and reduce strategic vulnerabilities.
The Santa Cruz Copper Project aligns with the EXIM Bank’s Make More in America
initiative, which is intended to increase the United States’ supply of critical minerals to
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foster economic growth and strengthen national security through domestic resource
production.
Mr. Friedland commented: “Receipt of the Export-Import Bank of the United States’
Letter of Interest underscores the importance of our Santa Cruz Copper Project to grow
domestic copper production. The United States urgently needs more domestically
produced copper to support the rapid expansion and rebuilding of its electric
transmission and transportation infrastructure, national defense capabilities, and
technologies of the future. Santa Cruz is positioned perfectly to be a source of pure
copper cathode to help the United States achieve its strategic mission of greater self-
reliance on domestic production of critical metals.”
Mr. Melvin commented: “We are grateful for this strong show of support by the Export-
Import Bank of the United States for the development of our Santa Cruz Copper Project.
The people of the EXIM Bank have devoted significant time to learning about our project
and are committed to supporting the growth of US critical metals production. We look
forward to working together with the EXIM Bank to advance this significant financing
opportunity as we rapidly progress our final engineering and permitting efforts at Santa
Cruz towards initial construction in 2026. As an advanced-stage copper project on
private land in the United States, 100%-owned by a United States company and with the
ability to produce pure copper cathode on-site, our Santa Cruz Copper Project is
uniquely positioned to meet rising US demand for domestically sourced copper.”
Ivanhoe Electric continues to pursue additional government support programs,
including the EXIM Bank’s Supply Chain Resilience Initiative and the Section 45X
advanced manufacturing production tax credit. The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative
provides financing tools to strengthen and diversify U.S. access to critical mineral
supply chains, while Section 45X offers direct tax incentives for the domestic
production and processing of those minerals.
Ivanhoe Electric is assessing EXIM Bank’s interest together with other financing
alternatives available to it for the development of the Santa Cruz Copper Project. In the
event Ivanhoe Electric proceeds with a formal application, EXIM Bank will need to
conduct all requisite due diligence necessary to determine if a final lending commitment
would be made. Any final lending commitment will be dependent on meeting EXIM
Bank's underwriting criteria, authorization process, and finalization and satisfaction of
terms and conditions. All final lending commitments must be in compliance with EXIM
Bank policies as well as program, legal and eligibility requirements.
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Santa Cruz Copper Project Advancing Rapidly Toward Construction, Poised to
Strengthen U.S. Copper Supply Chain Independence
The team at Santa Cruz, which includes Fluor Inc. as project lead, remains on schedule
to deliver the Santa Cruz Copper Project Preliminary Feasibility Study in June 2025. The
Preliminary Feasibility Study will support project financing activities. Permitting and
detailed engineering work are being aggressively advanced throughout 2025. Ivanhoe
Electric anticipates that permits will be received and initial construction activities will
begin in the first half of 2026.
About Ivanhoe Electric
We are a U.S. company that combines advanced mineral exploration technologies with
electric metals exploration projects predominantly located in the United States. We use
our accurate and powerful Typhoon™ geophysical surveying system, together with
advanced data analytics provided by our subsidiary, Computational Geosciences Inc.,
to accelerate and de-risk the mineral exploration process as we seek to discover new
deposits of critical metals that may otherwise be undetectable by traditional exploration
technologies.
We believe the United States is significantly underexplored and has the potential to
yield major new discoveries of critical metals. Our mineral exploration efforts focus on
copper as well as other metals including nickel, vanadium, cobalt, platinum group
elements, gold and silver. Through the advancement of our portfolio of electric metals
exploration projects, headlined by the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona and the
Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah, as well as other exploration projects in the United
States, we intend to support United States supply chain independence by finding and
delivering the critical metals necessary for the electrification of the economy. We also
operate a 50/50 joint venture with Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma’aden to explore
for minerals on ~48,500 km2 of underexplored Arabian Shield in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia. In 2024, we also launched an Exploration Alliance with BHP, the world’s largest
mining company, to explore for new critical metal deposits across six target areas in the
Southwest United States.
Website: www.ivanhoeelectric.com
Contact Information
Mike Patterson
Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Development
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 1-480-601-7878
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Ivanhoe Electric: @ivanhoeelectric
Ivanhoe Electric’s investor relations website located at www.ivanhoeelectric.com should be
considered Ivanhoe Electric’s recognized distribution channel for purposes of the Securities
and Exchange Commission’s Regulation FD.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this news release constitute “forward-looking statements” or “forward-
looking information” within the meaning of applicable U.S. and Canadian securities laws. Such
statements and information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Ivanhoe Electric, its
projects, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or information. Such
statements can be identified by the use of words such as “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”,
“intend”, “expect”, “believe”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “scheduled”, “forecast”, “predict”
and other similar terminology, or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”,
“would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. These statements reflect Ivanhoe
Electric’s current expectations regarding future events, performance and results and speak
only as of the date of this news release.
Such statements in this news release include, without limitation statements regarding the
Letter of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (“EXIM Bank”) and the
potential for EXIM Bank to provide up to $825 million in financing for the development of
Ivanhoe Electric’s Santa Cruz Copper Project; the advancement of Project financing
discussions with EXIM Bank; the submission of an application by Ivanhoe Electric to EXIM
Bank for the final financing commitment and the satisfaction of EXIM’s underwriting criteria,
authorization process, and any terms and conditions; the potential for financing through other
programs, including Supply Chain Resilience Initiative and Section 45X; the completion of the
Preliminary Feasibility Study for the Santa Cruz Project in June 2025; the progress of
engineering and permitting for the Santa Cruz Project and the commencement of construction
activities at the Santa Cruz Project in the first half of 2026; the development of the Santa Cruz
Project into a mine and its ability to produce pure copper cathode; the projections,
assumptions and estimates contained in the Initial Assessment related to the Santa Cruz
Project, including, without limitation, those relating to production; and planned or potential
developments in the businesses of Ivanhoe Electric.
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Forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on
information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to significant risks
and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in
the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including the refusal or inability of EXIM
Bank to ultimately provide financing; the inability to negotiate and sign definitive agreements
for financing by EXIM Bank or the inability for us to satisfy conditions to financing;; changes in
the prices of copper or other metals Ivanhoe Electric is exploring for; the results of exploration
and drilling activities and/or the failure of exploration programs or studies to deliver anticipated
results or results that would justify and support continued exploration, studies, development or
operations; the final assessment of exploration results and information that is preliminary; the
significant risk and hazards associated with any future mining operations, extensive regulation
by the U.S. government as well as local governments; changes in laws, rules or regulations, or
their enforcement by applicable authorities; the failure of parties to contracts with Ivanhoe
Electric to perform as agreed; and the impact of political, economic and other uncertainties
associated with operating in foreign countries, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and
the global economy. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read
in conjunction with the other cautionary statements and risk factors described in Ivanhoe
Electric’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission at www.sec.gov.
No assurance can be given that such future results will be achieved. Forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this news release. Ivanhoe Electric cautions you not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Subject to applicable securities
laws, Ivanhoe Electric does not assume any obligation to update or revise the forward-looking
statements contained herein to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this
news release, and Ivanhoe Electric expressly disclaims any requirement to do so.