Mongolia’s Erdenet has signed a one-year US$70mn limited recourse pre-payment facility with Rabobank and one other bank.

The deal signed to tight deadlines, and was successfully closed and drawn before December 25.

A source close to the deal tells GTR that Rabobank is providing “the lion’s share” of the funding, but could not name the second bank.

However, the pre-payment facility for Erdenet is now in its fourth incarnation, and the source did reveal that the bank is a new lender to the Mongolian mining firm.

Previous lenders to the facility include Banco Espirito Santo, Rabobank and Standard Bank.

Trading firm Ocean Partners is acting as the borrower of record for the deal, and will on-lend the funding to Erdenet.

“That’s the intention,” the source tells GTR. “Although Erdenet has been around for a number decades, the mining industry in Mongolia is becoming quite big business.”