Debt investors 

Policies and funding sources

Our policies on debt and treasury management are as follows:

• Commitment to maintain an investment grade credit rating;
• Diversification of funding sources; and
• Generally maintain borrowings and cash in US Dollars.

Our primary sources of funding include cash flow from operations and US$700M in senior unsecured notes.

We also retain access to significant liquidity with an undrawn US$1.4 billion multicurrency syndicated credit facility, which is a standby arrangement to the Group’s US dollar commercial paper program and was extended in December 2022 by one year to December 2027 with the size of the facility in the final year reduced to US$1.2 billion.

The facility was established as a Sustainability Linked Loan with measures linked to our ongoing commitment to emissions reduction and improving energy and water use efficiency. It complements our sustainability approach which is aligned with the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) Mining Principles and is informed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Global Compact Ten Principles – to which we remain committed. South32 has obtained a Second Party Opinion from Sustainalytics, who evaluated and provided an independent opinion on the alignment of the Sustainability-linked Loan’s framework with the Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles 2021.

Our US$1.4 billion revolving credit facility is not subject to financial covenants at the Group’s current credit rating. Certain facilities in relation to specific operations are the subject of financial covenants that vary from facility to facility, however these are considered normal for such facilities.