Last checked at 20 Jun 2017 14:00
20 June 2017
THOR MINING PLC
PLACEMENT TO FUND TUNGSTEN AND LITHIUM EXPLORATION PROGRAMS
The Directors of Thor Mining PLC ("Thor" or the "Company") (AIM, ASX: THR) are pleased to announce a strategic financing to allow acceleration of the Company's project interests including the recently acquired 25% interest in, and option to acquire up to 100% of, US Lithium Pty Limited.
Highlights:
· The Company has raised gross proceeds of £460,000 through the conditional placing of 51,111,111 new ordinary shares of 0.01p each ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 0.9p (the "Placing and Subscription"), the mid-market price at the time the placing was undertaken;
· Chairman Mick Billing to invest £27,000 and Non-Executive Director Paul Johnson to invest £45,000 in the placing, subject to shareholder approval;
· Placees to receive one warrant with each placing share to subscribe for a further new Ordinary Share at 1.8p per share ("Warrant"), valid for two years from the date of issue and with an acceleration clause, should the 5 day VWAP of Thor's shares exceed 5.0p during this two year period;
· Additional cash augments existing cash balances and enables the Company to accelerate exploration work on the Company's project interests.
Mr Mick Billing, Executive Chairman, commented:
"I am pleased to announce this very important financing which builds on the existing solid cash position and enables the Company to undertake an accelerated work programme. Proactivity on the ground delivers news to market and we anticipate numerous market updates across the Company's interests in the near term.
In particular, we await results from the drilling work at the Dundas Gold Project, we are scheduled to commence further drilling at Pilot Mountain in Nevada within the next few weeks and have commenced our review of US Lithium Pty Limited's projects, and will be active on the ground in Arizona and New Mexico shortly.
We are entering a highly news generative period for the company and I would to thank our shareholders for their support and the investors in this placing."
Placing and Subscription summary
The Placing and Subscription will raise in aggregate gross proceeds of £460,000, through the conditional placing of 51,111,111 Ordinary Shares at a price of 0.9p per share. Placees will also be granted one Warrant for each Ordinary Share subscribed. The Placing was undertaken by SI Capital Ltd.
Warrants issued with the Placing and Subscription contain an "acceleration" clause whereby if at any time during the life of the warrants, the 5 day VWAP of Thor shares exceeds 5 pence then the warrant holder will have 5 working days in which those warrants must be exercised, or they will expire.
The Company will shortly convene a general meeting of the Company at which shareholders will be asked to grant the Directors the necessary authorities to issue the 51,111,111 Ordinary Shares and 51,111,111 Warrants.
The net proceeds of the Placing and Subscription will enable the Company to accelerate and extend planned drilling at its Pilot Mountain tungsten project with the objective of aggressively expanding its resource inventory, along with financing initial exploration work on the Big Sandy lithium project in Arizona USA, in which the Company has a 25% interest and the option to acquire the residual 75% ownership of the licence holder, US Lithium Pty Limited, as announced on 14 June 2017. The Placing and Subscription will also provide the Company with additional working capital.
Director Participation in the Placing and Subscription
Mick Billing and Paul Johnson, both directors of the Company, propose to participate in the conditional Placing and Subscription by subscribing for 3,000,000 and 5,000,000 Ordinary Shares respectively (with matching Warrants) for an aggregate subscription price of £72,000, subject to shareholder approval at the general meeting.
A notice of general meeting, scheduled to be held on or around 27 July 2017, will shortly be sent to shareholders, in order to seek approval for increased director authorities to issue Ordinary Shares and Warrants, to be used in the first instance to issue the Ordinary Shares and Warrants pursuant to the Placing and Subscription. Further announcements will be made in this respect as soon as practicable.
Director | Amount subscribed ₤ | Ordinary Shares issued | Resultant holding of Ordinary Shares | Resultant percentage holding (of enlarged issued share capital) | Warrants held |
Mick Billing | 27,000 | 3,000,000 | 28,265,242 | 6.66% | 15,765,040 |
Paul Johnson | 45,000 | 5,000,000 | 15,002,649 | 3.54% | 18,200,000 |
The participations by Mick Billing and Paul Johnson in the conditional Placing and Subscription constitute related party transactions for the purposes of AIM Rule 13. The independent directors, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, Grant Thornton UK LLP, consider that the terms of the related party transactions are fair and reasonable in so far as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
Settlement and dealings
Subject to shareholder approval at the general meeting, assuming Thor issues no further Ordinary Shares in the meantime, following the completion of the Placing and Subscription, Thor will have 424,124,319 Ordinary Shares in issue.
For further information, please contact:
Enquiries:
Mick Billing | +61 (8) 7324 1935 | Thor Mining PLC | Executive Chairman |
Ray Ridge | +61 (8) 7324 1935
| Thor Mining PLC | CFO/Company Secretary |
Colin Aaronson/ Daniel Bush/ Richard Tonthat | +44 (0) 207 383 5100
| Grant Thornton UK LLP
| Nominated Adviser |
Elliot Hance | +44 (0) 207382 8300 | Beaufort Securities Limited | Joint Broker |
Nick Emerson / Andy Thacker | +44 (0) 1483 413 500 | SI Capital Ltd | Joint Broker |
Tim Blythe/ Camilla Horsfall | +44 (0) 207 138 3222 | Blytheweigh | Financial PR |
Updates on the Company's activities are regularly posted on Thor's website www.thormining.com, which includes a facility to register to receive these updates by email, and on the Company's twitter page @ThorMining.
About Thor Mining PLC
Thor Mining PLC is a resources company quoted on the AIM Market of the London Stock Exchange and on ASX in Australia.
Thor holds 100% of the advanced Molyhil tungsten project in the Northern Territory of Australia, for which an updated feasibility study in 2015¹ suggested attractive returns. Thor also holds 100% of the Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada USA which has a JORC 2012 Indicated Resources Estimate² on 2 of the 4 known deposits.
In February 2017, Thor completed the sale of its Spring Hill Gold project⁴ for A$3.5million, plus a future royalty of:· A$6 per ounce of gold produced from the Spring Hill tenements where the gold produced is sold for up to A$1,500 per ounce; and
· A$14 per ounce of gold⁵ produced from the Spring Hill tenements where the gold produced is sold for amounts over A$1,500 per ounce.
Notes
¹ Refer ASX and AIM announcement of 12 January 2015
² Refer ASX and AIM announcement of 22 May 2017
³ Refer ASX announcement of 15 June 2017 and AIM announcement of 14 June 2017
⁴ Refer ASX and AIM announcement of 17 February 2017
⁵ At the date of this announcement gold is trading at approximately A$1,640/oz