Tietto, BlackEarth raise $11m in IPOs

Perth-based gold explorer Tietto Minerals got off to a solid start in trading today after raising $6 million in its initial public offering.

Under the offer, the company issued 30 million shares at 20 cents each and the price had jumped 12.5 per cent to 22.5 cents at 3.30pm AEDT.

Tietto holds a series of gold tenements in West Africa, including the Abujar project in Ivory Coast and the Dube South and Cestos projects in Liberia.

The company is led by founder and managing director Caigen Wang, who set up Tietto in 2010 and was previously chief executive of ASX-listed Ishine Resources.

Francis Harper is the company’s non-executive chairman. He has been a director at Blackwood Capital since 2002 and previously spent 15 years working at investment bank NM Rothschild.

Mark Strizek and Hanjing Xu are non-executive directors.

Blackwood Capital acted as lead manager to the offer while Minerva Corporate was the compliance manager.

Meanwhile, Lithium Australia’s graphite spinoff, BlackEarth Minerals, will begin trading on the ASX on Friday after completing a successful $5.4 million IPO.

BlackEarth issued about 27 million shares at a price of 20 cents with Patersons Securities acting as lead manager to the offer.

The company has a number of graphite projects in Western Australia and Madagascar, and proceeds from the offer will be used across the tenements and for general working capital.

Managing director Tom Revy has extensive mining experience and has been chairman of Empire Resources since 2010.

Non-executive chairman Phillip Hearse has worked in the mining sector for 40 years, including founding and managing metallurgical and risk assessment company Normet.

George Bauk is also a non-executive director and is currently chairman of Lithium Australia, which holds an 18 per cent stake in BlackEarth.