PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Metals developer Centaurus Metals has raised A$1.1-million through a share placement to professional and sophisticated investors, with the miner also announcing plans to raise a further A$3.5-million through a non-renounceable rights issue.
Centaurus placed about 44-million shares, priced at 2.5c each, and a further 14.67-million options to raise the initial funding.
The miner would also launch a one-for-two non-renounceable rights issue to current shareholders, also priced at 2.5c a share, along with one free attaching option on a one-for-three basis, to raise a further A$3.5-million.
The options would have an exercise price of 5c each, and would expire at the end of March 2017.
The funds raised would allow Centaurus to advance the funding and development options for its Candonga direct shipping ore (DSO) project, in Brazil.
Specifically, the funds would be used to complete the permitting process at Candonga, continue work to secure sales arrangements with the domestic customer base, start resource drilling at the Conquista DSO project and to investigate transactions that could deliver immediate value at the Jambreiro project.
The company is aiming to start production at Candonga in the second quarter of next year, at a rate of 300 000 t/y under a trial mining licence, which was lodged in April last year. Centaurus previously told shareholders that the licensing process was well advanced, and final approval of the trial mining licence was expected in the first quarter of 2015.
The project was expected to require a capital investment of A$3.6-million, and would have a life-of-mine cash cost of A$14.90/t.