Ongwe Minerals (TSX-V:ONG) has closed a brokered private placement and a concurrent non-brokered offering, raising aggregate gross proceeds of approximately C$23 million ($23.3 million).
Under the listed issuer financing exemption offering, the company issued 13,334,000 common shares at C$1.38 apiece for gross proceeds of C$18.4 million.
Beacon Securities led the syndicate, which included Research Capital, Haywood Securities, Raymond James, Canaccord Genuity, Red Cloud Securities, and Stifel Nicolaus Canada.
The agents also exercised their option in full, contributing an additional 2,174,000 shares to the total.
A concurrent private placement of 3,333,333 shares at the same price added another C$4.6 million, with Cirrus Capital arranging the placement for institutional and retail investors outside Canada.
CEO Dave Underwood says the company upsized the offering after receiving ‘strong demand’.
“A substantial number of existing shareholders elected to participate again, and we also added […] high-quality specialist and generalist institutions, family offices and individuals to our roster,” Underwood adds.
Ongwe’s recent dual listing on the Namibian Stock Exchange allowed for a sizeable allocation to Namibian investors.
Agents received a cash commission of 6% of gross proceeds from the LIFE offering, with reduced fees on certain sales.
The company issued 555,682 broker warrants exercisable at $1.38 per share for 24 months. Cirrus received a 3% finder’s fee on the private placement proceeds.
The funds will be used to expand exploration across Ongwe’s Namibian gold projects. Reverse circulation drilling has already started at Khorixas, while diamond drilling at Omatjete is scheduled to begin at the end of July to test the Manga and Nguni targets.
Ongwe’s projects sit within Namibia’s Damara gold belt. The Omatjete project lies along the Okondeka fault zone, which hosts WIA Gold’s (ASX:WIA) Kokoseb deposit.
Early work at Omatjete uncovered the Manga prospect, defined by a 4.5km by 1km gold-in-soil footprint with scout drilling confirming gold in bedrock.
The Khorixas project is located 60km west of Osino Resources’ Eureka project and hosts the Belmont and K17 discoveries, with Belmont displaying a surface gold footprint of roughly 12km by 6km.
Ongwe Minerals has included executives who previously worked at Osino Resources, which Shanjin International (SHE:000975) acquired for C$368 million, and advanced Auryx Gold’s (TSX:AYX) Otjikoto deposit, which B2Gold (TSX:BTO) purchased for $180 million.
Write to JC Villarba at Mining.com.au
Images: Ongwe Minerals
