Barclays Backs Peru Mining Start-Up

Barclays Natural Resource Investments (BNRI), a unit of Barclays Capital, is giving a line of equity to the management team of Southern Peaks Mining, a Peru-focused mining start up. The deal is BNRI’s first with a LatAm-focused mining management team. A Barclays spokesman declines to state how much BNRI is lending, though he adds that the unit typically commits between $50m-$100m per transaction. Deals are generally structured as lines of equity, whereby management teams identify potential asset and transaction opportunities and take them to the board for discussion and approval. The equity is then drawn down as required, subject to a total commitment cap agreed upfront. Southern Peaks Mining was established to acquire operating or close-to-operating, small-to medium-sized base and precious metals assets initially in Peru, and later potentially elsewhere in LatAm. The team is lead by Adolfo Vera, who has served as CFO at Peru-based Volcan Cia. Minera and Canada-based Silver Eagle Mines.