PERTH (miningweekly.com) − Lithium-miner Galaxy Resources on Thursday concluded a A$120-million capital raising.

“We will use the funds for working capital and ramp-up of our Mount Cattlin spodumene project in Western Australia and Jiangsu lithium carbonate plant in China, which we’re due to commission at the end of the quarter,” said MD Iggy Tan.

He noted that the timely commissioning and ramp-up of the company’s operations were essential in meeting an expected surge in lithium carbonate demand.

The raising would also provide funds for potential acquisitions and the repayment of some debt, Tan added.

Under the capital raising, sophisticated and institutional investors bought shares at A$1,10 a share, which represented a 13,6% discount to the volume-weighted average price of Galaxy shares, prior to pricing on April 8.

The first tranche of 31-million shares would be issued on April 21, with the second tranche of 78,1-million shares expected to be issued by May 20, after shareholder approval was gained at a meeting scheduled for May 13.

“We are pleased to welcome a number of particularly high-quality investors onto Galaxy’s registry, to help us execute our growth strategy and support the company as it moves forward,” Tan said.

Galaxy’s Mount Cattlin project is estimated to host 197 000 t of contained lithium oxide.

The company started production at Mount Cattlin in October last year, with the mine producing some 137 000 t/y of lithium oxide spodumene concentrate, in full production.
 

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