PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed American Pacific has raised A$7.1-million through a share placement to fund construction activities at its Fort Cady borate mine, in southern California.
The company placed more than 17.7-milliion shares, at a price of 40c each to institutional, professional and sophisticated investors under its existing placement capacity.
The offer price represented a 7.5% discount to American Pacific Borate’s last closing price on February 14, and a 5.7% discount to its 15-day volume weighted average share price.
The funds raised from the placement will go towards progressing construction-related activities at Fort Cady, where initial construction activities started at the end of January
A December definitive feasibility study (DFS) considered a three-phase construction, with Phase 1 to deliver some 82 000 t/y of boric acid and 36 000 t/y of sulphate of potash (SoP), at a development cost of $138.2-million.
The Phase 2 operation would increase production to 245 000 t/y of boric acid and 73 000 t/y of SoP, at a capital cost of $191.4-million, while the Phase 3 project would produce 408 000 t/y of boric acid and 109 000 t/y of SoP, at an additional capital cost of $186-million.
Based on the three-phased approach, the project would have a mine life of some 21 years.
An enhanced DFS is due by the end of April this year, targeting an increase in SoP production for Phases 1B, 2 and 3.