Raising funds and Tax Refunds
THE FUND RAISER: Bit of a mix this week with some companies raising funds, while others receive R&D rebates or government milestone payments.
Proposed private Placement
Laramide Resources (ASX: LAM) has arranged a proposed non-brokered private placement of up to 5 million units of the company at a price of 40 cents per unit, for aggregate gross proceeds of $2 million.
The company plans to use the proceeds of the Offering to advance its Westmoreland project in Australia, and for general corporate purposes.
As a result of the Offering the company will not proceed at this time with the previously announced securities purchase agreement with The Lind Partners Canada, LLC.
Share Placement to boost advanced tungsten and gold projects
Thor Mining (ASX: THR) has raised $200,000 by way of a Placement of 40 million new Ordinary Shares to sophisticated investors, at 0.5 cents per share.
The proceeds of the Placement will be used to fund the company’s working capital requirements, including continued assessment and exploration of its advanced tungsten and gold projects in Australia’s Northern Territory primarily, and where prudent, its gold project in Western Australia.
Draw down of $50 million advance
Tiger Resources (ASX: TGS) has drawn down on a $50 million advance payment facility from Gerald Metals SA to support the construction of the solvent-extraction and electro-winning (SXEW) plant at its Kipoi copper project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The $50 million advance payment is part of an agreement between Gerald and Tiger’s 60 per cent subsidiary, Société d’Exploitation de Kipoi SPRL (SEK), the operator at Kipoi.
SEK and Gerald also have an off-take agreement for 100,000 tonnes of copper cathode from the SXEW plant, which is nearing the final stages of construction and is on schedule for first copper cathode production in the second quarter of 2014.
“We are pleased to have drawn down this funding arrangement with Gerald Metals SA, as it will assist in funding the final stages of construction of the
SXEW plant,” Tiger Resources managing director Brad Marwood said.
“The agreement with Gerald was completed in an extremely challenging climate and shows the robustness of the Kipoi project, the confidence in the DRC and the strength of our management team.
“Construction of the SXEW plant has remained on track since it started, and we look forward to commencement of cathode production in the second quarter of next year.”
Research and Development funds received
Argent Minerals (ASX: ARD) has received the Federal Government’s Research and Development Tax Incentive Scheme claim funds of approximately $540,000.
The claim relates to a range of technical development activities carried out with the intention of bringing the company’s Kempfield project into production.
“We commend the Australian Government’s continued support of research and development activities by junior mining companies such as Argent Minerals in the technically challenging environment in which we operate,” Argent Minerals managing director David Busch said.
“These funds will be strategically applied to support the company’s activities toward our goal of becoming a significant Australian mining operation, including the massive sulphide target diamond drilling program set to start shortly at Kempfield.”
Fund Raising and commencement of exploration
Regal Resources (ASX: RER) has received firm commitments from institutional and sophisticated investors to raise $1.008 million through a placement of 28 million fully paid ordinary shares priced at 3.6 cents per share, a premium to the closing price on 27 November 2013 of 3.5 cents.
This placement follows the termination of a US$5 million loan, held by Regal’s DRC subsidiary Regal SK.
After payment of all accrued interest on the US$5 million loan and funds raised from the current placement, Regal’s cash reserves will stand at approximately $3.4 million.
The proceeds of the placement together with existing cash reserves will be used to accelerate exploration at Regal’s newly-acquired Kalongwe copper-cobalt project, which will include a drilling program planned for January 2014.
Proceeds will also be used for working capital purposes.