JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Aim-listed Alecto Minerals has raised £1-million through the issue of convertible loan notes to restart operations at its newly acquired Mowana copper mine, in Botswana.
Alecto in December announced that it would acquire Cradle Arc Investments, which owns the Mowana mine, for about £6.72-million in cash and shares. The reverse takeover will see it own a 60% stake in the Mowana mine.
The £1-million raised will be used to provide Cradle with a loan of $1-million for the restart of operations at Mowana.
South African minerals and energy trading company Fujax Minerals, which provides offtake finance to Mowana, will also provide Cradle with a $1-million loan, with the aim of bringing the mine back into production in the first quarter of this year.
The balance of the funds raised by Alecto will be used for general working capital purposes, including the transaction expenses related to the acquisition of Cradle.
“This investment marks a major step forward in bringing the project back into operation and Alecto’s management is working closely with our partners to restart production and to complete the acquisition,” Alecto CEO Mark Jones said on Tuesday.
Mowana operated between 2008 and 2015 and produced 9 274 t of copper in the 2014 financial year.