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Creditor grants two-week extension to Harte Gold
White River gold miner's forbearance agreement with BNP Paribas extended to Oct. 29
By: Northern Ontario Business Staff
White River miner Harte Gold has been granted another extension by its creditor, BNP Paribas, to sort out its debt obligations.
The Toronto-based gold miner issued a news release that its forbearance agreement has been amended from Oct. 15 to Oct. 29. Harte and BNP Paribas entered into this arrangement last July.
Harte Gold runs the Sugar Zone Mine just north of White River, roughly halfway between Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay. The underground mine started commercial production in 2019.
The company has been plagued by a number of operational difficulties and has been unable to maintain its schedule of loan payments to its biggest lender, BNP Paribas. BNP helped Harte refinance its debt soon after the mine went into production three years ago.
A forbearance agreement is a legal tool used by lenders when borrowers breach the terms of a loan. It grants the borrower some time to resolve financial issues and return to an acceptable payment schedule in return for certain conditions to be met.
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In a repeat of a news release from earlier this month, the company said this amending agreement provides for the continuation of a strategic review process started by Harte earlier this year. Harte revealed no information on how this review process is going other than it "continues to evolve."
The company reiterated that its 2021 gold production target "is at risk and may not be achieved."
The strategic review was launched, the company stated earlier this year, after falling short in some key performance areas and failing to reach some targets. Among the outcomes of this review is that the operation could be sold or a deep-pocketed mine financing partner comes aboard.
Harte holds a massive mining and exploration property situated on a gold mineralized greenstone belt of more than 81,000 hectares, located 70 kilometres east of Barrick's Hemlo gold complex.