PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed American Pacific Borates (ABR) has completed a A$37-million share placement to three global institutional investors.

The company on Tuesday announced that it had placed more than 17.6-million shares, at a price of A$2.10 each, under its existing placement capacity.

The placement price represented a 12.5% discount to ABR’s last closing price on November 22, and a 4.4% discount to its 10-day volume-weighted average share price.

The company told shareholders that the funds raised would be used to strengthen ABR’s balance sheet ahead of a US listing, advance the value engineering programme and bankable feasibility study at its Fort Cady operation, in Southern California, and construct the integrated boron facility at the project.

“The company is pleased to opportunistically strengthen the balance sheet as we pursue a listing in the US market and financing production-related capital expenditure and corporate activities,” said ABR CEO Henri Tausch.

“We are also pleased by the non-solicited level of interest from these strong investment groups, including a North American family office. We have a top-tier boron and lithium project with substantial reserves and permits in place, a proven team and a strong balance sheet to finance such efforts.”

ABR earlier this month said that it could potentially triple boron production at its Fort Cady operation, on the back of increased head grade and a new mine plan.

Boric acid head grade assumptions at Fort Cady have increased from the 3.7% considered in the bankable feasibility study, to 5.1%, and the extraction ratio has also increased from 70% to 80%, meaning more of the orebody can be mined.

As a result of the higher grades, ABR has developed a new mine plan for Fort Cady, reducing the cut-off grade from 5% to 0%, which is expected to have a significant effect on the total quantum of boron and lithium to be produced from the orebody.