Generation Mining (TSX:GENM; US-OTC:GENMF) has raised nearly all of its financing for its $1 billion Marathon copper-palladium project in northern Ontario.
The $969 million total includes $200 million this week from the Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB), $424 million in senior debt from several lenders and a $240 million flow-through deal with Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE, TSX, LSE: WPM). That leaves about $150 million that could be raised through stocks this fall, according to Haywood Securities mining analyst Pierre Vaillancourt. Construction will begin in the first half of next year.
“With permits in place and most of the financing completed, Generation is well positioned to move the project forward,” Vaillancourt said in a note Tuesday. “With copper at around $6.30 per pound and palladium at $1,250 per ounce, Marathon’s economics are compelling, supported by strong copper revenues.”
Marathon, located on the north shore of Lake Superior, will be one of the first significant minerals projects in Ontario to enter production in years with a planned start in 2028. It will be one of the few sources of palladium in North America for hybrid and electric vehicles, and among the province’s five largest copper producers. Generation has entered into offtake agreements for half of its 42 million pounds a year of copper production to Glencore (LSE:GLEN) and the rest to an undisclosed European integrated group.
Federal funds
“It’s really rare for a company with a market capitalization of $200 million to try to build a capital mine worth almost a billion dollars.” Generation President Kerry Noll said Northern Miner In a video call on Tuesday. “Fortunately, the federal government, which historically has not been there to help the mining industry, has stepped up in a big way.”
The construction deal with CIB follows the fund agreement $55 million bridge loan For Torngat Metals’ Strange Lake and Nouveau Monde Graphite’s (NYSE: NMG, TSX: NOU) rare earth project $459 million Debt financing earlier this year. CIB, an $18 billion government lender that supports development across Canada, is focusing on entry-level miners and has this year shifted from base metals and gold to mission metals.
CIB is providing $110 million of subordinated construction debt and a $90 million standby facility to cover excesses at Marathon. This was just days after Generation secured senior debt from Export Development Canada, ING Capital and Société Générale. The young man had previously earned $145 million in equipment rental facilities.
“It would certainly be very helpful to have the subordinated debt from the Crown Corporation to validate the viability of this project,” President and CEO Jamie Levy said on the same video call. “Security debt was essential to making this project happen.”
28% internal rate of return
Marathon is located near the city of the same name, about 300 km east of Thunder Bay. In addition to copper, it will annually produce 168,000 ounces. Palladium, 38,000 oz. Of platinum 12,000 oz. of gold and 240,000 oz. Silver, over its 13-year lifespan, according to an update Feasibility study 2025. The study showed an after-tax net present value of $1.07 billion and an internal rate of return of 28%, with construction costs estimated at $992 million.
Under the 2021 streaming deal, Wheaton will receive the first 150,000 ounces. of gold payable and 67% of the yellow metal production over the remaining life of the mine. You will also receive 22% of the platinum payable up to 120,000 ounces. And 15% for the remaining life. Wheaton provided the first generation with $40 million with the rest saved during construction.
Glencore can process concentrate at the Horne smelter in western Quebec and the Canadian Copper Refinery outside Montreal – the only two complete refineries in Canada. Copper smelter and refinery series.
Generation made a $34.5 million buyout in January and has $40 million in cash, according to its March earnings release. The host community, Biigtigong Nishnaabeg First Nation, also injected $750,000 as part of a private placement in February. Generation executives are confident in the company’s ability to attract the required investment based on due diligence conducted by institutional lenders since Marathon received its final construction permit in May 2025.
Shares of Generation Mining rose 8.3% over the past month to 65 cents a share on Thursday, valuing the company at $210 million. The stock has traded in a 52-week range of 28 to 92 cents.
Ready to go
In anticipation of the financing being completed, Knoll said the company’s detailed engineering work began in January to begin preconstruction in September. Generation and its construction company, Ausenco Engineering Canada, are negotiating final pricing and making down payments on certain long-term items.
“We’re about a third of the way through spending, in terms of negotiating the final price for things, for example, heavy equipment and transformers,” Knoll said. “The good news is we’re a little bit below the feasibility estimates at this point. Of course, there’s still further to go and there’s going to be some negative surprises, there always are, but we’re getting some positive surprises, which is great.”
Generation has soil sampling, excavation and mapping work planned for this summer, Knoll said. The trend is 30 km long with mineralization sites along the way, including the Geordie and Sally deposits. He said it could contain potential for underground mining, unlike the outcrops discovered so far.
Regarding the potential of the company’s 364-square-kilometre land package, Levy said: “In the future, we would like to expand this mine so that it can continue for many generations but that is too far away to go into production and is not permitted.” “Our focus now is to build this project as permitted by our environmental assessment.”
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