Welcome to a roundup of some of our financing, exploration, and development stories on Theassay.com over the last week. To keep up to date with all the latest headlines, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Financing and M&A
This week, Freegold Ventures Limited (TSX:FVL | OTCQX: FGOVF) has entered into an agreement with Paradigm Capital Inc., in connection with a proposed best efforts private placement financing for total proceeds of a minimum of C$5.0M and up to a maximum of C$7.5M, consisting of a minimum of 12,500,000 units and up to a maximum of 18,750,000 units of the company at a price of C$0.40 per unit.
The net proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate and working capital purposes.
The offering is expected to close on or about 26 March 2024 and will be subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, including listing of the common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Lake Resources N.L. (ASX: LKE | OTCQB: LLKKF) has received firm commitments in an institutional placement to raise A$15M at A$0.07 per share.
The company has received strong support from offshore and domestic institutional investors leading to introduction of new high-quality investors to Lake’s register.
In addition to the placement, Lake will also be undertaking a share purchase plan (SPP) at the same price as the placement, to raise up to A$5M. The placement and SPP will raise total gross proceeds of up to approximately A$20M.
Lake’s CEO, David Dickson, said, “We are pleased with the level of support shown for Lake from both existing and new shareholders. The equity raising will provide funding capacity to support the delivery of the strategic partnership process. We are pleased to offer our existing retail shareholders the ability to participate in the capital raising via the SPP.”
Furthermore, Galan Lithium Limited (ASX: GLN) has announced the grant of an additional key tenement, E70/4629 targeting lithium-bearing pegmatites. The exploration licence has been granted for a period of five years to February 2029. The tenement is approximately 260km south of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and less than 30km south of the Greenbushes pegmatite at the Greenbushes Mine. The area covers roughly 43km2 and expands Galan’s 100% owned tenement package to a total area of 315 km2.
The company has stated it is excited to commence exploration activities on the newly acquired tenement, leveraging its previously acquired data set of high-resolution radiometric and magnetic geophysical data from the airborne geophysical campaign flown in March 2022.
New exploration and development
Ionic Rare Earths Limited (ASX: IXR) has announced the successful completion of construction and commissioning of Phase 1 at its technical facility and demonstration plant at the Makuutu Rare Earths Project, Uganda.
Makuutu is being developed by IonicRE’s local Ugandan operating entity Rwenzori Rare Metals Limited (RRM).
The completion of the Makuutu demonstration plant technical facility is a significant milestone for the company, made possible by the collective efforts of its dedicated team and strong support from the local community.
Meanwhile, Magnetic Resources NL (ASX: MAU) has announced the results of a prefeasibility study (PFS) on its 100% owned Lady Julie Gold Project, situated in the Laverton, Western Australia gold region. The outcomes of the study show a technically and financially robust project.
Managing director, George Sakalidis, said, “The excellent PFS outcome demonstrates that Magnetic’s Lady Julie Gold Project is one of the highest margins, undeveloped gold projects in Australia. The project’s low-cost profile and strong financial return metrics are primarily driven by the extraordinary near-surface, high-grade nature of the Lady Julie Central and Lady Julie North 4 deposits. This low-cost profile places the project in the bottom half of the cost curve of gold producers in Australia.”
Other Company News
Finally, Centaurus Metals Limited (ASX: CTM) has said that in response to growing interest from potential off-take partners and customers, it has commenced a new study on the potential of its 100%-owned Jambreiro Iron Ore Project in Brazil, to deliver a direct reduction (DR) quality pellet feed concentrate.
Jambreiro is an advanced iron ore project located in south-eastern Brazil near the regional centre of Belo Horizonte. It formed part of Centaurus’ foundational portfolio of strategic minerals projects in Brazil and comprises a substantial mineral resource for which Centaurus continues to evaluate potential development and monetisation pathways. The strong push by steelmakers to lower greenhouse emissions has resulted in iron ore producers being encouraged to maximize grade and minimize impurities.
Due to this, Centaurus is now investigating the possibility of producing a DR quality pellet feed product from the Jambreiro ore, targeting a +68% Fe product with combined grades of silica (SiO2) and alumina (Al2O3) being under 2%.
