Photo by: Bloomberg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold miner Perseus Mining has raised A$32-million in a share placement to institutional and sophisticated investors.
The ASX- and TSX-listed miner reported on Tuesday that it had placed about 68.7-million shares, or 15% of its existing capital, at a price of A$0.47 each to raise the funds.
The placement price represented a 6.9% discount to the last closing price of Perseus shares on the ASX, and a 2.3% discount to the five-day volume weighted average price of the company’s shares, up until February 14.
Perseus told shareholders that the proceeds from the placement would be used to accelerate productivity improvements and to access the eastern pits at its Edikan gold mine, in Ghana, and to provide balance sheet flexibility.
“The placement will help provide us with balance sheet strength, keeping us debt free as we continue to implement the re-optimised Edikan life-of-mine plan focused on maximising cash margins, increasing gold production, reducing unit costs and ensuring efficient capital deployment,” said CEO and MD Jeff Quartermaine.
He noted that during the three months to December, Perseus produced about 48 400 oz of gold from the Edikan mine, at an all-in unit cost of $1 228/oz, which was 8.5% lower than the previous quarter.
Earlier this month, the miner reported an after-tax net loss of A$4-million for the six months to December, compared with a net profit of A$32.4-million in the previous corresponding period.
Revenue for the interim period reached A$135.2-million, from the sale of 93 686 oz, compared with the A$147-million generated in revenue during the 2012 half-year.