Perpetua tapped for $2.7B EXIM funding for gold-antimony project

Perpetua Resources (NASDAQ, TSX: PPTA) says the proposed billion-dollar loan earmarked by the US export credit agency for its flagship gold-antimony project has now entered its final approval stage.

On Tuesday, the company announced that the Export-Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM) has given notice to Congress of a proposed $2.7 billion loan to support its Stibnite project in central Idaho.

The proposed funding — consisting of a direct loan of $2.2 billion plus capitalized interest and fees — would cover the initial capital cost of the project, which is now estimated at about $2.58 billion, according to Perpetua’s latest technical summary, also released on Tuesday.

The EXIM notice to Congress, said Perpetua, represents the last formal step before the EXIM board will vote on final approval, which the company anticipates shortly after the 25-day notice period. Once approved, the company would have sufficient capital, together with the $714 million of cash on hand at year-end.

“Today’s decision marks the final phase of EXIM approval,” Perpetua CEO Jon Cherry said, adding that the company has worked with the bank for over two years on a financing solution. “This puts Perpetua on track for a final investment decision later this year,” he added.

Shares of Perpetua Resources surged over 8% on the announcement, sending its market capitalization to $3.3 billion in New York.

Large antimony resource

The Stibnite project is host to one of the few known US sources of antimony, a metal considered vital for defence, energy storage, flame retardants and semiconductor manufacturing. It is also one of the largest deposits outside China’s control.

As part of its efforts to rebuild a domestic supply of critical minerals, the Trump administration last year selected Stibnite as one of the few projects for the FAST-41 program to expedite its permitting process. The US EXIM also gave its backing of the project with an initial funding commitment of $2 billion. Other key investors in the project include JPMorgan and Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE, TSX: AEM).

Perpetua started early construction of the project in October after securing all federal and state permits.

Updated economics

According to Perpetua, its new technical summary incorporated engineering designs for the project developed during the basic engineering phase completed in 2025, as well as environmental and regulatory activities.

As the updated summary shows, the initial cost of the Stibnite project has risen by more than $300 million since its last update in 2025. The base-case after-tax net present value (at 5% discount) also fell slightly to $3.5 billion, using a higher gold price of $3,250/oz. ($2,900/oz. before). In addition, it presented a lower internal rate of return of 23.5% and a higher payback of 2.4 years.

Consistent with the previous report, the Stibnite has a projected 15-year mine life, during which it is expected to deliver over 4.2 million oz. of gold production and 106.5 million lb. of antimony.