Birimian in $12m placement

Lithium hopeful Birimian will tap investors for $12 million in a capital raising to fund the development of its Goulamina project in Mali.

Subiaco-based Birimian will issue 31.7 million shares at 38 cents each in what was a heavily oversubscribed placement with demand from institutional, sophisticated and professional investors.

Funds from the raising will be used to advance its exploration program at the Goulamina lithium project including a revised pre-feasibility study.

The company recently released a pre-feasibility study for the project that listed five development scenarios with a range in capex from $110 million to $524 million.

Birimian chairman James McKay said the strong demand for the placement demonstrated support for the company.

“This subscription is a positive affirmation of our new executive team and our development strategy,” he said

“We have full confidence in the world-class nature of the project and are extremely pleased that this confidence is shared by the participants in this placement as we accelerate the project towards a development decision.”

Birimian acquired Goulamina in April last year for an undisclosed sum (and from an undisclosed vendor) and had planned to sell the asset to Chinese chemical company Shandong Mingrui Group in January for $107 million.

That sale fell through within a month, after the buyer failed to make an initial deposit within a given deadline.

Hartleys acted as sole lead manager in the placement while Nascent Capital Partners acted as co-manager.

Birimian shares were trading at 44 cents at 12pm AEDT.