Two Western Australian mining juniors focused on battery-related commodities have secured $50 million to advance their projects in Africa.
Two Western Australian mining juniors focused on battery-related commodities have secured $50 million to advance their projects in Africa.
West Perth-based graphite hopeful Battery Minerals has conditionally secured $US30 million ($40 million) from private equity player Resource Capital Funds to construct the Montepuez project in Mozambique.
The deal is a mix of debt and equity funding, with a $US25 million loan at an interest rate of 10 per cent.
RCF will subscribe for $US5 million of Battery shares when the term sheet is executed, although the price is not yet set and will depend on the issue price of a future equity raising Battery is planning.
The deal is dependent on Battery issuing $28.3 million of new equity through a further share raising.
Battery is targeting shipment from Montepuez from the March quarter of next year.
Managing director David Flanagan said the financing package was a major milestone.
“We are particularly pleased that an investor of the calibre and experience of RCF wished to invest in us and they had confidence in the team, as we strive to be producing graphite concentrate and generating substantial cash flow in less than a year,” Mr Flanagan said.
CBD-based Celsius Resources raised $9 million through a placement to fund a pre-feasibility study and drilling at its Opuwo cobalt project in Namibia.
That raising was at an issue price of 18.5 cents per share, with Hartleys and Aesir Capital acting as joint lead managers.
Celsius managing director Brendan Borg said the new capital meant the business would be funded for rapid evaluation beyond the PFS stage.
“With our recently announced maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource confirming the project as having what we consider to be world significance in terms of size and strategic value, we look forward to continuing to progress the studies on the project as quickly as possible,” Mr Borg said.
Demand for both graphite and cobalt are expected to increase in the next decade, driven by increased uptake of electric cars using batteries that contain the commodities.
Shares in Celsius were up 7.5 per cent to be 21.5 cents each at the close of trading, while Battery shares were 6.4 per cent down to 5.9 cents each.
