London- and Toronto-listed SolGold said on Friday it had raised £27.1-million in the placing of ordinary shares.
The Ecuador-focused miner placed 121 359 680 shares in the capital of the company with new and existing investors at 21.5p a share. Concurrently, with the placing, certain directors subscribed for 162 790 new ordinary shares in the capital of the company.
In addition, retail investors have subscribed in an offer made by the company through the PrimaryBid platform for 4 813 527 new ordinary shares in the capital, also at the placing price.
The placing and the subscription raised gross proceeds of about £26.1-million (about $32.6-million), while the retail offer raised proceeds of £1-million.
In addition to the placing, subscription and the retail offer, SolGold said it remained in dialogue with a potential investor for an additional subscription of up to $5-million at the placing price.
SolGold said on Thursday that it intended to raise £16-million, or $20-million by placing more than 74.4-million shares at 21.5p each.
SolGold CEO Nick Mather said the capital raising would see the completion of the Franco-Nevada Corporation (FNV) royalty, SolGold being fully funded through its preliminary feasibility study (PFS) and to the delivery of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) and all related permits.
“This funding will also cover the costs of SolGold’s important regional exploration programmes and the ancillary costs of generating the $2.7-billion capital development funding package for the Alpala project,” he added.
On May 11, the company announced a royalty financing agreement with FNV for $100-million with an option to upscale to $150-million at the company’s election. In conjunction with the FNV transaction (assuming that it is upscaled to $150-million), the funds raised will fund the company to delivery of a PFS on the company’s flagship Alpala project in the third quarter 2020 and a DFS in the second quarter of 2021.
Proceeds would also fund exploration of the company’s extensive land package in Ecuador, which is prospective for further discoveries.