West Perth-based mineral explorer Avonlea Minerals Ltd has closed at 17.5 cents in its debut on the Australian Securities Exchange, 12 per cent down on its offer price.
The company, which raised $2.5 million through the issue of 12.5 million shares at 20 cents each, is finalising plans to begin field work at its Wentworth project, which it says is prospective for zinc, gold and silver.
Avonlea, which focuses on Queensland projects, is chaired by lawyer Roger Steinepreis in a non-executive role, with accountant Andrew Gastevich serving as company secretary and executive director, with geologist David Holden also serving in an non-executive role.
The full text of a company announcement is pasted below
Avonlea Minerals Limited (ASX Code: AVZ) is pleased to announce it has commenced trading on the Australian Stock Exchange today.
The company is finalizing plans to begin field work at the Wentworth Project and is focusing upon the previous results of drilling from Straits Gold Pty Ltd earlier this year.
Results from that drilling include 17 metres @0.71% zinc and 1.2m@174g/t silver, and 1.48% zinc(from 388.4 to 389.6m). Further to this, gold has also been identified in drilling results which is encouraging given the number of 1 million ounce plus gold mines in the area(Kidston and Pajingo). It is anticipated that drilling by Avonlea at the project
could be under way before the end of the year, once all geological historical data has been complied and verified in the field.
Executive Director Andrew Gastevich said, "Now we are listed we are keen to get moving on the exploration at Wentworth as quickly as possible, however we are also looking at a number of other exploration, development and investment opportunities in Australia and globally which may assist the company in its strategy to create sustainable sources of wealth for our shareholders."
"The future for resources is very bright and we have seen renewed interest in a whole range of commodities and exploration in areas that have not seen any active exploration for some time." said Mr. Gastevich.
Avonlea currently holds granted tenements in Queensland covering 330 sq km.
