PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Minerals explorer Antipa Minerals has unveiled a capital raise of up to A$12-million to fund ongoing exploration and project development at its Minyari Dome gold and base metals project, in Western Australia.

The company told shareholders that it had received firm commitments for the placement of 333.7-million shares, at a price of 2.7c each, to raise an initial A$9-million under its existing placement capacity.

The placement price represented a 12.9% discount to Antipa’s last closing price on September 7, and a 16.6% discount to the company’s five-day volume weighted average share price at the same date.

As part of the placement, Antipa will issue one free attaching unlisted option for every two new shares subscribed fore, exercisable at 4c each and with an expiry date of one year from issue.

In addition to the placement, Antipa will also undertake a share purchase plan (SPP), allowing shareholders to subscribe for up to A$30 000 worth of additional shares in the company, in order to raise a further A$3-million. The SPP is also priced at 2.7c a share.

The company will also issue one free attaching option for every two new shares subscribed for, also exercisable at 4c each and an expiry date of one year.

The SPP will open on September 21 and will close on October 7.

“The 100%-owned Minyari Dome project offers Antipa a compelling gold production opportunity in Western Australia’s Paterson Province, which is strategically located just 35 km from Newcrest’s Telfer 22-million-tonne-a-year processing facility. Over the last 18 months, we have started to truly unlock the potential of this asset,” said Antipa MD Roger Mason.

“Given the latent further value capable of being added via the drill bit, we remain committed to continuing a substantial exploration programme across our 144 km² of tenure at Minyari Dome. This raising delivers Antipa the ability to rapidly progress our resource growth drilling at Minyari Dome, as well as the prefeasibility study and its associated test-work streams.”