PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold developer Besra on Wednesday said it expected to close a C$15-million financing deal by the end of the month, after closing the first tranche of the transaction, worth some C$2-million.

In October last year, Besra inked an agreement with private investor George Molyviatis, the chairperson of InCoR Holdings. Under the terms of the transaction, once the full C$15-million investment was made, Molyviatis would own an effective 50.9% stake in Besra.

The company said on Wednesday that the C$2-million received was the first trranche of two in the C$15-million financing, by way of 6% secured mandatory converting notes, maturing in two years and converting at 2c each into a maximum of 750-million shares, and 300-million three-year common stock purchase warrants, at 4c each.

With the close of the first tranche, InCoR had nominated Molyviatis to join the board of Besra.

Besra CEO John Seton said that while the closing of the transaction had taken longer than planned, the company was hoping to close the second tranche of C$13-million by the end of the month.

“In Vietnam, we have made significant progress in taxation and royalty matters, and following the waiver of the joint venture pre-emptive rights, are preparing to close the recapitalisation of Phuoc Son with a new local partner and resume normalised production from both mines in Vietnam over the coming months,” Seton said.

Mining operations at the Bong Mieu gold mine were resumed in October last year, after an 11-month hiatus, while mining at Phuoc Son still remained suspended.

Besra recently inked a heads of agreement that could potentially pave the way for a prominent Vietnamese financial institution to become a significant partner in the Phuoc Son project, while injecting new capital.

Seton said that funds from the first tranche of the financing would be allocated to creditors and urgent operational requirements, while note holders with overdue payments owing would be addressed from the closing of the second tranche, and a second capital raising anticipated shortly thereafter.

“While we still have some significant challenges, this is a step in the right direction,” Seton said.