Mining firm, White Mountain Titanium Corporation has secured a US$ 2 million debt funding agreement with private equity firm Nexo which included an exclusive development rights agreement relating to a desalination plant proposed for White Mountain’s Cerro Banco mine in Chile.
White Mountain has granted to Nexo Subsidiary, Nexo Water. the exclusive right to fund and develop its proposed desalination plant. Complete details of the transaction are available in an 8-K filing by White Montain.
Nexo - a speciallist in business development of new technologies through project acquisition and implementation opportunities - proposes to integrate the use of “proven, high- recovery desalination technologies in the design of the Cerro Blanco desalination project. Nexo intends to increase significantly the fresh water recovery over that achievable through reverse osmosis alone.
Both parties plan to create a joint venture and determine an equity split to share proceeds from future sales of water once the Cerro Blanco mine is operational.
Interim chief executive officer of White Mountain, Michael Kurtanjek, said Nexo “will bring not only the necessary finance to construct the desalination plant but also the technology which could significantly increase fresh water recoveries. With NEXO assuming the funding responsibility for the water plant, this will significantly reduce the projected capex figure for the Cerro Blanco rutile project.”