PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian gold-miner Citigold on Monday reported that it was in the final stages of completing a A$18-million capital raising, to fund the growth of its Charter Towers operations, in Queensland.

The miner said that it expected the capital raising be 50% debt and 50% equity.

“At this stage in the development of the project, the directors feel a term loan facility has become attractive to the company,” said MD Mark Lynch.

He added that international investor interest in the company continued to grow, and as such, Citigold was considering the possibility of listing on the Singapore Stock Exchange to give international shareholders additional access to trade in the company’s securities.

“Singapore is a large and long established, sophisticated financial centre catering to, and easily accessible by, the fast growing Asian economies, especially India and China,” Lynch said.

He added that Citigold believed that the capital raising, coupled with its joint-venture (JV) strategy, could produce long-term growth to the overall Citigold business.

Citigold recently signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s Henana Jinqu Gold (Jinqu) to jointly develop the 200 0000 oz/y Charter Towers gold project.

Jinqu could acquire up to a 50% interest in the JV company, which would own granted mining leases with permits to mine and associated infrastructure, containing a gold mineral resource of 1,8-million ounces.

Company geologist believed that the overall Charters Towers deposit could, in time, prove to be larger than the current inferred mineral resource of ten-million ounces of gold.