A SMALL WA company looking for gold in New South Wales is likely to stir a bit of interest when it hits the market later this month.
Hibernia Gold is currently offering the public 7 million shares at 20 cents in its $1.4 million IPO, and although its prospects lie entirely in the eastern States, it is headed up by some pretty prominent Western Australian mining figures.
Hibernia is relying on its small $1.4 million capital raising plus its notable management team to facilitate the take-up of the offer, which is not underwritten and is being marketed direct to the investing public.
Hibernia Gold is the sister company of Siberia Mining Corporation and is headed up by former Anaconda boss – now Minara Resources – Andrew Forrest.
Siberia, which is also headed up by Mr Forrest, was one of 2003’s more successful IPOs.
Siberia shares, issued at 20 cents in May 2003, were worth the equivalent of $2.36 each after a four-for-one share split late last year.
Like Siberia, Mr Forrest will be issued a block of 12 million options in Hibernia escrowed for five years with various hurdle rates starting at 30 cents and ending at 60 cents.
After the float, the total number of issued shares in Hibernia will be 15.3 million, of which Mr Forrest will control about one fifth.
But Mr Forrest is not the only Siberia face behind Hibernia.
Siberia’s two other board members – also ex-Anaconda board members – Christopher Linegar and Malcom James have taken seats on the Hibernia board and a total of 200,000 options in the company.
Siberia’s current executive management team consisting of Jonathon Downes, Richard Hill and Adrian Byass – former Anaconda geologists who founded Siberia out of the public unlisted company, Braeside, two years ago – will be consultants to Hibernia.
Each of these three will receive 500,000 options in the company.
Hibernia’s NSW-based assets were split from Siberia before its float last year centred around the remaining WA holdings.
Former president of WA-based industry body AMEC, Derek Fisher, has been brought in to manage Hibernia’s five gold projects
Mr Fisher said there were clear commercial reasons, both before and after listing, for dividing the WA and NSW projects between the two companies.
“You don’t get market recognition for the more projects you hold,” he said.
Mr Fisher said Hibernia had already raised $1 million late last year and the new equity was to fund exploration.
“That way you have reasonable chance of being able to do your next financing at a higher price [which is] very beneficial to your shareholders,” he said.
But small may not always be better.
Mr Fisher did not wish to comment on what Mr Forrest was suggesting in his chairman’s statement that the Hibernia board might explore potential “synergies” with Siberia and Hibernia given the “higher share price multiples of large well-managed gold companies”.
