PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Metals explorer Kingston Resources is hoping to raise A$8.4-million through a share placement and a share purchase plan (SPP) to fund work on its gold projects in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Western Australia.

The junior on Wednesday said it had received binding commitments for a share placement comprising 40-million shares, priced at 16c each, for gross proceeds of A$6.4-million.

The share placement will be undertaken under Kingston’s existing capacity, and will not require shareholder approval.

Meanwhile, eligible shareholders will be given the opportunity to purchase additional shares in the ASX-listed company, also priced at 16c a share. The SPP will be undertaken on a first come, first accepted basis, with up to 12.5-million shares up for issue to raise a maximum of A$2-million.

Kingston MD Andrew Corbett said the strong response from investors during the bookbuild reflected the quality of the company’s gold assets and the potential for significant value uplift as the 3.2-million-ounce Misima gold project advanced through prefeasibility and mining studies, towards a maiden ore reserve, targeted for the end of 2020.

“We are pleased to welcome a number of new investors to our register as part of the placement and would like to thank our major shareholders for their ongoing support. We are very encouraged by the support we are receiving for Misima as we transition towards mining studies and development.”

In addition to funding the prefeasibility study work at Misima, in PNG, the funds raised will also go towards advancing the approvals process for this project, and to fund exploration and resource expansion drilling. Drilling will also be undertaken at the Livingstone gold project, in Western Australia.

“The rest of 2020 will be exciting for Kingston shareholders as we work towards the completion of the prefeasibility study and reporting a maiden ore reserve at Misima. Following the significant structural work completed earlier in 2020, we are also excited to get back into drilling the Livingstone project, with the objective of delineating a maiden mineral resource at Kingsley,” said Corbett.