Photo by: Orocobre
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – ASX- and TSX-listed Orocobre on Thursday said it had decided not to allocate shares to Canadian applicants under its A$37-million placement on the ASX, which had reduced the placement to A$30-million.
Orocobre explained its action was owing to a potential four-month trading restriction applicable to Canadian resident investors under Canadian securities laws regarding shares issued by the company.
The company’s flagship Salar de Olaroz lithium project, in Argentina, was fully funded before the capital raising, with equity contributions and project debt to cover the $229.1-million construction cost and $46.5-million in additional debt facilities to cover cost overruns and working capital.
Construction of the $229-million project began in late November 2012. The construction and commissioning period would be about 18 months, with initial battery-grade lithium carbonate output scheduled for April 2014. The project remained on time and within budget.
Orocobre said the reduction in the raising did not affect the company's plans for its Borax Argentina division, for which A$20-million from the raising had been allocated. The division would now receive A$10-million from the raising.
Orocobre said it had A$7-million cash in the bank as at September 30, excluding funds in the Olaroz joint venture company.
Confidence in Borax Argentina studies had lead the company to raise funds to fast-track the construction of a 16 000 t/y to 24 000 t/y boric acid plant after completing a prefeasibility study.
The Borax Argentina division was acquired from diversified major Rio Tinto in 2012, and has an operating history of about 50 years. The operations include three openpit mines, concentrators, refining capacity and land-holdings.