Sandfire banks $97m from share sale

Sandfire Resources is selling its entire stake in London-listed Adriatic Metals as construction of its $504 million copper mine in Botswana continues.

Sandfire this morning said it would sell 34.6 million shares in Adriatic, amid a capital raising being undertaken by the UK-headquartered company in relation to its Vares project in Bosnia.

The raising is priced at $2.80 per share, with Sandfire expected to net around $97 million.

The company, which owns the DeGrussa copper mine in Western Australia, said the sale proceeds were payable in cash, though it did not disclose how it would use the funds.

Today’s announcement comes less than a month after Sandfire detailed plans to expand its Motheo copper project in Botswana, having revised the capital estimate from $364 million to $504 million.

The Karl Simich-led company, which secured the Motheo mining licence in July, expects to mine 60,000 tonnes each year from the project’s T3 and A4 deposits compared with its previous base case target of 30,000tpa.

Construction is underway, with first copper production expected in the final quarter of fiscal 2024.

More recently, Sandfire acquired a base metals operation in Spain for $2.6 billion, with the deal funded through a combination of cash reserves, debt facilities, and a capital raising.

Sandfire has around $574 million in cash, as at June 30, and remains debt-free.

The company’s shares closed down 0.7 per cent on Wednesday to trade at $5.37.