23 Jun 2015 07:00
Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector: Exploration & Development
23 June 2015
Alecto Minerals plc ('Alecto' or the 'Company')
Placing to Raise £300,000 gross
Alecto Minerals plc (AIM: ALO), the AIM quoted mineral exploration company focussed on West and East Africa, is pleased to announce that it has raised £300,000 (before expenses) by way of a placing, via Beaufort Securities Limited, as agent of the Company, of 300 million new ordinary shares of 0.01 pence each in the capital of the Company ('the Placing Shares') at a price of 0.1 pence per Placing Share ('the Placing Price'), with an existing institutional investor ('the Placing'). The Placing Shares will represent approximately 21.43 per cent. of the Company's enlarged issued share capital.
The net proceeds of the Placing will provide the Company with additional working capital as it actively conducts due diligence on potential acquisition opportunities in line with its over-arching strategy to become a gold producer in Africa. In addition, the Company is currently advancing negotiations regarding partnership opportunities for its West African gold portfolio. Further updates will be provided in due course, as appropriate.
The Company's core portfolio consists of: the recently acquired KerbouléGold Project in Burkina Faso; the Kossanto East Gold Project where the Company has identified a JORC inferred resource estimate of 247,000 ounces of gold; the Kossanto West Gold Project where the Company continues to hold early stage discussions regarding a potential joint venture for its advancement; and two promising gold projects in Ethiopia.
Application for trading on AIM and Total Voting Rights
Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange plc for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ('Admission'). Admission is expected to become effective and dealings in the Placing Shares commence at 8.00 a.m. on 26 June 2015. On Admission, the Company will have in issue 1,400,063,600 ordinary shares.
The Placing Shares will be fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing ordinary shares.
The Company does not currently hold any ordinary shares in treasury. Accordingly, the above figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
Alecto's CEO, Mark Jones, commented:
"Alecto is positioning itself for the next stage in its development, and I am delighted to have galvanised support from our existing shareholder base for our previously stated strategy. The Company is actively evaluating acquisition opportunities which we believe could potentially bring us closer to achieving our overall objective of generating revenues through production. Coupled with the advancement of partnership negotiations in respect of our current portfolio assets, we believe that we are well placed for growth during the remainder of 2015 and look forward to providing further updates in due course. The Placing Price was negotiated on Friday 19 June 2015 against the Company's then prevailing closing middle-market price of 0.125 pence per share and we welcome the continued support and interest of our investor base in the Company's activities."
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.alectominerals.com or contact:
Alecto Minerals plc Mark Jones | Tel: +44 (0)20 3137 8862 |
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Strand Hanson Limited Richard Tulloch Matthew Chandler James Dance | Tel: +44 (0)20 7409 3494 |
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Beaufort Securities Limited Jon Belliss | Tel: +44 (0)20 7382 8300 |
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St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Elisabeth Cowell Felicity Winkles | Tel: +44 (0)20 7236 1177 |
Notes to editors:
Alecto Minerals plc is an African focussed, gold and base metal exploration and development company quoted on AIM with exploration projects in Mali, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.
In Mali, the Kossanto Project has a current independent inferred JORC code compliant resource estimate of 6.72Mt grading at 1.14g/t Au for an aggregate of 247,000 oz Au with a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t Au at Kossanto East. The Kossanto Project is located in the centre of the Kenieba inlier in western Mali. The Kenieba inlier is a block of ancient greenstones and granites hosting many significant gold deposits in Senegal and Mali, making it one of the most important gold regions in Africa.
The Kerboulé Project, located in the highly prospective Birrimian-age Djibo gold belt in northern Burkina Faso, is the near term focus of the Company to provide the basis for commencing a preliminary economic assessment. Alecto also holds two prospective gold exploration licences in Ethiopia.