Finance
Ivanhoe Electric receives $200m in financing for Santa Cruz copper project
Ivanhoe Electric has received credit approval for a $200m senior secured multi-draw bridge facility, marking a key step in financing the Santa Cruz copper project in Arizona, US.
The facility, approved for Ivanhoe Electric subsidiary Mesa Cobre Holding, will provide enhanced liquidity to support early construction activities and working capital requirements at the Santa Cruz copper project.
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The banking syndicate consists of National Bank Capital Markets, Société Générale and BMO Capital Markets, serving as joint lead arrangers.
The bridge facility forms a key part of Ivanhoe Electric’s comprehensive project financing strategy, which also includes potential project-level minority investment and long-term project debt.
The bridge facility is expected to close in December 2025, pending the completion of definitive legal documentation and other customary conditions.
Ivanhoe Electric is in advanced negotiations with potential minority interest partners and project debt providers including the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) and commercial banks.
The company aims to maintain progress on its indicative timeline for the Santa Cruz copper project, targeting initial copper cathode production in late 2028.
Ivanhoe Electric executive chairman Robert Friedland said: “As we advance toward breaking ground in 2026, Santa Cruz is steadily marching on the path to becoming one of the first new copper mines built in the US in almost two decades. Our mining process is designed to produce 99.99% pure copper metal on the Santa Cruz site, without the need for a smelter, thanks to the very high grade nature of our oxide copper reserves.
“Santa Cruz is the first step in our vision to grow a new American-based and American-focused critical metals company. Today’s credit approvals, coming from this group of top-tier mining financiers, are a clear vote of confidence in the project, our people and this vision.”
Since completing the Santa Cruz copper project preliminary feasibility study in June 2025, Ivanhoe Electric has been in detailed discussions regarding long-term project financing.
Financing options under consideration include project-level minority investments by strategic and financial investors, project debt and other potential sources.
In April 2025, Ivanhoe Electric received a letter of interest from EXIM for $825m in project debt.
The full application for funding from EXIM is under way, and Ivanhoe Electric aims to complete the project financing in the first half of 2026.
Ivanhoe Electric is a US-domiciled minerals exploration company focused on developing mines from mineral deposits primarily located in the US.
Finance
Low-income Chinese girl aces gaokao, inspires live-streamers offering help
A girl from a disadvantaged rural family in central China topped this year’s gaokao, attracting numerous live-streamers eager to finance her education, which she declined.
The home of 18-year-old secondary school graduate Han Yaping in a Henan province village was recently bustling with live-streamers.
This attention came after Han achieved an impressive score of 699 out of 750 in the gaokao, China’s national college entrance exam.
She has received offers from China’s two leading universities, Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Han’s accomplishment is particularly remarkable given her family’s impoverished circumstances.
Her mother suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory arthritis affecting the spine, preventing her from working. Her father, who earns a living through farming and odd jobs, serves as the family’s sole provider. Han also has a younger sister.
Finance
UK financial regulator publishes landmark AI review
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a landmark review on Monday that proposes recommendations to regulate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the financial decisions made by consumers.
The review, titled the Mills Review, anticipates that both consumers and firms will start delegating “more financial decision-making to AI systems,” including for agreements, initiating transactions, and executing decisions “within agreed parameters.” One of the key findings of the review outlined that while AI can help bridge advice gaps and “support growth,” there remain risks “associated with fraud, cyber security, and consumer harm.” Conducting the review, Sheldon Mills highlighted that “AI can also amplify risks: bias, discrimination, exclusion, opaque decision-making (particularly when multiple AI models interact), misleading or hallucinatory advice and erosion of consumer trust.”
The review stated that presently, one in five adults in the UK are “already open to AI making decisions for them,” particularly when decisions feel “complex or high stakes.” It found that roughly 26 percent of the population “trust general-purpose tools such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for financial advice” with little awareness that such platforms provide no “formal routes to recourse” or protections.
Overall, the Mills Review identified four areas that it anticipates will be impacted by AI in the financial sector: “the transformation of firms,” “new consumer journeys,” “a reshaped competition landscape,” and “amplified financial crime and cyber risk.” The FCA projected the shift in how consumers and firms consult AI to take place by 2030.
The Mills Review put forth seven “priority” recommendations to be considered by the FCA Board. It recommended that any transitions to autonomous AI models be monitored and that regulatory frameworks and perimeters be adapted and secured. The review called for the strengthening of “system-wide coordination and oversight,” the scaling up of the FCA’s AI Lab to enable it to support AI models and innovation for agentic finance, and an “AI-enabled agentic supervisory model” to be built and adopted. Finally, it recommended that a trusted “public-interest AI-enabled financial capability service” be developed.
The FCA announced, in the press release, that it will launch an AI “good and poor practice publication” in late 2026.
Finance
Fayette County Public Schools Board of Education approves audit contract, new finance director position
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – The Fayette County Public Schools Board of Education approved a one-year audit contract capped at $131,750 plus $225 per hour during a virtual meeting Monday, along with a new finance director job description.
The contract is with Mauldin & Jenkins Certified Public Accountants, an Atlanta-based firm, and covers the 2025-26 fiscal year and the restatement of the 2024-25 fiscal year and ancillary services through FY 2029-2030. The work is set to be completed by Nov. 15.
The board approved the contract in a 5-0 vote.
Audit contract details
Interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch said the cost is already accounted for in the district’s budget.
“And is actually less than we expected given our current situation — we were thrilled with the bid,” Koch said.
Koch said she believes this is Mauldin & Jenkins’ first school district audit in Kentucky, but that the firm works with school districts of more than 100,000 students throughout the Southeast.
“Quite frankly when I spoke to the folks at KDE they were thrilled because we’re running kind of short of auditors who want to do school district audits — so all around I think this was a win-win for everyone,” Koch said.
New finance director position
The board also approved a new job description for the position of Director of Finance. Acting Superintendent Dr. Bill Bradford said the title will replace two associate director positions.
“Which will not only save the school district money but it’s also going to streamline our work and align internal controls to make room for a more efficient unit,” Bradford said.
Koch said the position will be posted as soon as possible following the board’s approval.
Closed session
The board went into closed session for more than an hour to discuss pending investigations that could lead to employee discipline. When the board returned, it took no action and adjourned the meeting.
Copyright 2026 WKYT. All rights reserved.
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