On Friday last week, several mining companies had raised capital or announced they were aiming to raise capital, including Encounter Resources (ASX:ENR), which completed a $15 million placement.
The funds will be used to accelerate and expand resource drilling at the Aileron Project in Western Australia, as well as other exploration activities and metallurgical testwork.
Encounter, which has a market capitalisation of $158.99 million, says further targeted drilling will be carried out to determine the scale of the Crean, Emily, and Green niobium-rare earth mineralised carbonatites in the West Arunta region.
Canaccord Genuity, Euroz Hartleys and Chieftain Securities acted as joint lead managers to the placement.
The offer price of $0.35 represents a 10.9% discount to the 10-day volume-weighted average price of $0.393.
In conjunction, the company is conducting a share purchase plan at the same issue price, to raise $3 million.
Eligible shareholders can subscribe for up to $30,000 worth of new shares.
Aurum Resources (ASX:AUE) is conducting a placement to raise $10 million to fund its acquisition of Mako Gold (ASX:MKG).
A portion of the proceeds will also go towards exploration drilling at the Napié Gold Project, as well as a Feasibility Study and environmental approvals for the Boundiali Gold Project in Côte d’Ivoire.
Under the placement, the offer price of $0.35 per new share represents an 11.5% discount to the five-day volume-weighted average price prior to 3 December 2024.
Petra Capital and Canaccord Genuity acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners to the placement, while Sternship Advisers acted as co-manager.
The placement is expected to settle on 12 December, while shares will be issued on or around 13 December 2024.
In October, Aurum entered into a bid implementation agreement to acquire Mako Gold. The merger will create an emerging exploration and development gold business in West Africa, with more than $20 million cash at hand to advance Napié and Boundiali.
Aurum, which currently holds a 68.97% stake in Mako Gold, says the takeover is now unconditional, and expects the deal to close by the end of January 2025.
Meanwhile, Tivan (ASX:TVN) has been awarded a $7.4 million grant for the Speewah Fluorite Project in Western Australia, under the Australian Government’s International Partnership in Critical Minerals (IPCM) program.
The IPCM program supports early to mid-stage critical minerals projects that contribute to building end-to-end supply chains with Australia’s international partners in the critical minerals sector.
Tivan, which has a market capitalisation of $132.84 million, says the funding will be used to complete Feasibility and Definitive Feasibility studies at Speewah, as well as support workstreams.
The funding will also be used to support Feasibility and Definitive Feasibility studies for the project ahead of a final investment decision (FID).
A FID is expected to take place in Q1 2026, with first production targeted for 2027.
Lastly, James Bay Minerals (ASX:JBY) is conducting a placement to raise $6 million to expedite exploration at the Independence Gold Project in the US.
The funding will support expansion and infill drilling, as well as fieldwork at Independence, alongside other exploration activities across the company’s existing lithium assets.
The issue price of $0.65 per share represents a 24.42% discount to the last closing price of $0.86.
Bell Potter Securities will act as lead manager to the placement.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Encounter Resources
