Greetings!
Last month we told you about “last mile financing” in the mining arena. This is, you will recall, bridging the gap between when miners normally need to be paid, and when the trader can cash the letter of credit once the cargo has been loaded. We had a number of responses to this message, and have found there is particular interest in shipping, for example, iron ore or manganese ore from Mexico and other spots in Latin America. We have already closed one such relationship, and expect to complete several other fundings over the next few weeks. This particular finance structure is suitable for the industrial ores, but you should not think of it as being usable for precious metals like gold or silver.