PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Gold developer Capricorn Metals will raise A$65-million through a share placement to accelerate the development of its Karlawinda gold project, in Western Australia.
The ASX-listed company on Tuesday said that about 406.2-million shares will be placed, at a price of 16c each, to raise the funds, taking Capricorn’s cash balance to around A$90-million.
Two of Capricorn’s current shareholders, Paradice Investment Management and Hawke’s Point Holdings, have cornerstoned the capital raise, along with several institutional investors and several founders of gold miner Equigold.
The placement will be conducted in two tranches, with the first tranche of 125.4-million shares raising an initial A$20.1-million, taking place under Capricorn’s existing capacity.
The second tranche of 280.8-million shares, to raise A$44.9-million, will be subject to shareholder approval.
“We are very pleased to have received commitments for this A$65-million share placement as it will allow Capricorn to move towards development of the Karlawinda gold project with confidence that there is now a clear funding pathway for the project,” said executive chairperson Mark Clark.
“It will allow the company to expedite the optimisation of development plans targeting commencement of construction in the March 2020 quarter and targeting first gold production around a year after that.”
An optimisation study estimated a capital requirement of A$132-million to develop the 1.5-million-ounce Karlawinda project, which is expected to produce 660 955 oz over an eight-and-a-half-year mine life.