AIC, Carawine IPOs raise $17m

Perth-based gold explorer AIC Resources, chaired by Centamin founder Josef El-Raghy, got off to a solid start in trading today after raising $10 million in its initial public offering.

AIC, set up in May after acquiring the Marymia project north-east of Meekathara, has raised $10 million through the issue of 50 million shares at 20 cents each.

Chairman Mr El-Raghy, who oversaw the construction of Centamin’s Sukari gold mine in Egypt, has a 33 per cent stake in AIC.

The Sukari gold mine, Centamin’s primary asset, began production in 2009 and was the first large-scale modern mine in Egypt.

Tanami Gold director Brett Montgomery is AIC’s managing director, while former Centamin secretary Heidi Brown is a non-executive director at AIC.

Funds raised from the offering will be used to advance exploration at the Marymia project.

Meanwhile Carawine, which is a spin-off of Sheffield Resources’ gold and base metals assets, has raised $7 million through an oversubscribed IPO.

Perth-based Sheffield has demerged its Jamieson gold project in Victoria, its Oakover and Paterson copper-cobalt projects in Western Australia, and its stake in the Fraser Range nickel-copper-gold project (a joint venture with Independence Group) into Carawine.

Carawine will be led by Sheffield exploration manager David Boyd, as managing director, with Sheffield chairman Will Burbury and directors David Archer and Bruce McQuitty also serving as non-executive directors of Carawine while retaining their roles on Sheffield’s board.

Patersons Securities acted as the sole lead manager to the offering.