JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Platinum junior Wesizwe Platinum has signed a formal agreement with US-based investment fund YA Global Investments (Yorkville) for a three-year R550-million standby equity facility, as announced in March.

Yorkville would be able to subscribe for up to R550-million worth of ordinary shares in Wesizwe Platinum, in minimum tranches of R50-million, the company said on Tuesday.

“We are very pleased to have secured this agreement in the current market conditions. Not only does this facility provide us with complete flexibility to place shares over a period of time and raise the necessary tranches of capital, but it also limits shareholder dilution by only doing so if and when project value has been delivered,” Wesizwe CEO Michael Solomon said in a statement.

The shares would be issued at market related prices, noted the junior miner.

“This move is very positive for Wesizwe and completely aligned with our revised capital construction strategy, which includes a flexible modular approach to developing our 350 000 oz/y [Frischgewaagd-Ledig] platinum group-metals mine,” said Solomon.

Wesizwe had, in October last year, announced that it would review the flagship project, located in the North West province of South Africa, in light of the global economic crisis. However, it decided in November that the deferral of the project would be “detrimental to shareholder value”.

The R550-million facility combined with the company’s R222-million existing cash-on-hand, would allow it to progress construction in-line with the current project timeline, Solomon stated.

Frischgewaagd-Ledig has an estimated life-of-mine of 35 years at a production rate of 230 000 t/m, producing some 350 000 oz/y of PGMs during steady state production./y

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