Using data from Gécamines' partner mining firms, we found that the financial attribute components of financial strength and financial flexibility have an impact on firms' use of short-term debt. Firms with high financial strength use short-term debt while firms with high financial flexibility may not use short-term debt. The study of the determinants of short-term debt has become a hot topic in the financial literature in recent years. We found interesting results about the relationship between the firm's financial strength and short-term debt. Indeed, the firm opts for short-term debt when it has a strong financial strength. The significant results allow us to conclude that short-term debt helps to solve agency problems in mining firms. These results are mainly related to the growth option.