London- and Toronto-listed SolGold said on Friday it had raised £27.1-million in the placing of ordinary shares.

The Ecuador-focused miner placed 121 359 680 shares in the capital of the company with new and existing investors at  21.5p a share. Concurrently, with the placing, certain directors subscribed for ‎162 790‎ new ordinary shares in the capital of the company.

In addition, retail investors have subscribed in an offer made by the company through the PrimaryBid platform for 4 813 527 new ordinary shares in the capital, also at the placing price.

The placing and the subscription raised gross proceeds of about £26.1-million (about $32.6-million), while the retail offer raised proceeds of £1-million.

In addition to the placing, subscription and the retail offer, SolGold said it remained in dialogue with a potential investor for an additional subscription of up to $5-million at the placing price.

SolGold said on Thursday that it intended to raise £16-million, or $20-million by placing more than 74.4-million shares at 21.5p each.

SolGold CEO Nick Mather said the capital raising would see the completion of the Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV) royalty, SolGold being fully funded through its preliminary feasibility study (PFS) and to the delivery of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) and all related permits.

“This funding will also cover the costs of SolGold’s important regional exploration programmes and the ancillary costs of generating the $2.7-billion capital development funding package for the Alpala project,” he added.

On May 11, the company announced a royalty financing agreement with FNV for $100-million with an option to upscale to $150-million at the company’s election. In conjunction with the FNV transaction (assuming that it is upscaled to $150-million), the funds raised will fund the company to delivery of a PFS on the company’s flagship Alpala project in the third quarter 2020 and a DFS in the second quarter of 2021.

Proceeds would also fund exploration of the company’s extensive land package in Ecuador, which is prospective for further discoveries.