Atlas Salt (TSXV: SALT) has received a letter of interest from Export Development Canada for up to C$150 million in long-term debt financing for the Great Atlantic Salt Project, with the federal export credit agency named as mandated lead arranger.
The letter confirms EDC’s intent to advance due diligence toward secured debt funding at that level, but it stops well short of a commitment. Any eventual participation remains conditional on the agency completing diligence, obtaining credit approval and negotiating definitive agreements.
“Export credit agencies apply rigorous, disciplined diligence, and their engagement at this stage reflects the strength and strategic significance of a long-life, Canadian industrial-salt asset,” said president and chief executive Nolan Peterson, who described the letter as one part of a broader process running across multiple counterparties and jurisdictions.
Atlas Salt is targeting roughly C$350 million to C$400 million of senior secured debt in total, a process run by financial advisor Endeavour Financial. The company has been to market since the spring and says it has fielded indications of interest from prospective lenders, vendor financing counterparties and strategic partners, several of which are already working through the due diligence process.
Underpinning those conversations is an updated feasibility study released September 30, 2025. That study pegged the project’s after-tax net present value at C$920 million using an 8% discount rate, alongside an internal rate of return of 21.3% and a payback period of 4.2 years at a steady-state production rate of 4.0 million tonnes per annum over a 25 year mine life.
Work at site is already moving. Earthworks contractor On Grade Construction mobilized in early May and has been clearing, grubbing and installing drainage and sediment controls across the project footprint.
The company also secured written confirmation in April that its municipal development permit covers the full early works scope rather than individual work packages, removing the need for a series of separate applications as construction progresses.
Atlas Salt last traded at $1.53 on the TSX Venture.