JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Current and proposed work programmes on JSE- and TSX-listed Rockwell Diamonds’ projects have been given a shot in the arm as the miner banks C$4.1-million raised through the offering of two-year unsecured convertible debentures.
Rockwell on Wednesday said it had secured an amount of C$3-million from principal shareholder Daboll Consultants, an affiliate of Diacor, and another C$1.1-million from Rockwell nonexecutive chairperson Mark Bristow.
“We are pleased that our chairperson and Diacore, our beneficiation joint venture partner, have taken up these C$4.1-million debentures, which will enable Rockwell to strengthen its balance sheet and continue financing its organic growth projects,” said Rockwell CEO and president James Campbell.
The diamond miner had funded two new processing plants at its Saxendrift Hill complex and Niewejaarskraal projects from working capital during the last two years.
“The additional funding makes us more resilient in the short term, while we continue with internal developments to increase our capacity … [and] pursue external opportunities to grow and leverage our diamond value chain capabilities,” he said.
The debentures, which bear interest of 5% a year, would become convertible, subject to the prior approval of minority shareholders, into equity securities of the company.