The company is to raise the funds through a placing and open offer.

It has begun work on the BFS, which will take place in two phases and African Eagle is aiming to complete the report around the end of this year and publish it early next.

The proceeds from the placing are intended to fund the current phase, which includes further investigation of Dutwa's geology.

The company also plans to upgrade resources from the Ngasamo and Wamangola deposits of the project - from the inferred to the higher indicated category.

The company said it had obtained commitments to subscribe for up to 200 million new shares at 4 pence per share to raise gross proceeds of up to £8 million and to issue placing warrants for the subscription of up to 100 million new shares at 5.5 pence per share.

It also announced an open offer to eligible shareholders of up to 100 million new shares at 4 pence each to raise up to £4 million.

The placing and open offer are conditional on shareholder approval at the AGM on April 24 this year.

Chief executive Trevor Moss and directors Mark Parker, Christopher Pointon and Andrew Robertson plan to take part in the placing with 1,187,500, 750,000, 750,000 and 182,500 shares respectively on the same terms as other investors.

Non-exec director Julian McIntyre is interested in 46,030,761 company shares, through the shareholding of his family's trust company, Allard.

Allard intends to participate by subscribing for 32.5 million shares.

African Eagle’s partner BrightStar reported grades of 9m at 1.45g/t gold from 28m, 2m at 1.83g/t from 53m, 2m at 5.4g/t from 81m, 4m at 1.78g/t from 1m and 5m at 1.34g/t from 1m.

The results, which were from the contact and Ndagalu areas and followed up results from earlier shallow rotary air blast drilling, confirm broad zones of gold mineralisation near the granite-greenstone contact, African Eagle said.

In all, 31 reverse circulation (RC) holes for 2,605m were completed on sections spaced 200m to 400m apart, with results from about half having been announced previously.

The drilling revealed broad zones of gold mineralisation in sheared and brecciated greenstones close to the granite contact. 

BrightStar said these broad zones of primary gold mineralisation needed more work, which will be done in conjunction with testing of a high grade zone discovered during 2011.

A new rig has arrived in Mombasa, Kenya and is expected to be drilling at Miyabi in May.

BrightStar can earn up to 75% of the Miyabi project by completing exploration and a feasibility study.

Today the firm revealed its latest batch of results from the 2011 drill programme.

The best nickel grades came in a 66 metre intersect which had 2.09 per cent nickel, and included 15 metres with 5.01 per cent nickel. While the best cobalt result came in a 21 metre drill intersect with a grade of 0.31 per cent, and also included 6 metres at 0.58 per cent.

"With these results, we expect to be able to upgrade the bulk of the Ngasamo deposit into JORC Indicated category and to extend the resource beyond previous drilling,” said Mark Parker, director for corporate development.

“The results confirm the exceptional thickness and local high grade zones of the deposit, which is one of the two nickel-bearing oxide hill caps which make up the Dutwa project.  

“Since drilling at Ngasamo, the rig has completed a resource drill programme at Wamangola, drilled several water bores, (including one for our new development camp) and has now begun a wide-core drilling programme to obtain bulk ore sample 3 (BOS3) for the forthcoming pilot plant tests."

Overall today’s highlight nickel results had lengths between 51 and 81 metres at grades of 2.09 per cent nickel. The highlight cobalt results had lengths between 9 and 21 metres with grades of 0.27-31 per cent.

In all, the Ngasamo resource drilling programme comprised just over 8,000 metres of drilling in 122 holes.

A resource statement is now expected for Ngasamo in the second quarter. Subsequently the firm will be able to increase its stake in the asset to 50 per cent, from 35 per cent.

After that, the completion of a feasibility study will see African Eagle increase its stake up to 75 per cent of the project.

African Eagle’s (LON:AFE) plans to spin–off its Zambian copper assets have received a boost after latest assays showed grades and thickness comparable to the nearby Mufulira Mine.

The results were from 1,367 samples cut from the Mokambo project’s archive drill cores and showed intercepts ranging from 3.34 per cent copper to 1.84 per cent.

African Eagle added that the results generally improved on the historic assays and showed that the mineralisation at Mokambo, like that at the nearby Mufulira Mine, extends to a depth of many hundreds of metres and suggests that underground mining could be viable.

The samples were from boreholes drilled at Mokambo between 1929 and 1969 by Roan Selection Trust.

African Eagle also said it intends to rationalise its ground holdings in Zambia to focus on key prospective tenements with those considered non-prospective to be handed back to the government.

The spin–off of Mokambo is part of African Eagle’s move to focus on its Dutwa nickel project in Tanzania.

Chris Davies, the firm’s operations director, said the assay results at Mokambo showed mineralisation extended to considerable depth and at similar grades to Mufulira.

“This work is in line with our efforts to add value to our Zambian copper assets at minimum cost in advance of signing up a strategic investor to finance a drilling programme to expand and formalise the Mokambo resource," he said.

The Mokambo project comprises two prospecting licences, Mokambo North and Mokambo South, which occupy a narrow 17 kilometre long strip of land along the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Mokambo area is on the eastern limb of the Mufulira syncline, 15 kilometres east of Glencore's (LON:GLEN) Mopani Mine.

---Adds comments from broker Ocean Equities---

African Eagle Resources (LON:AFE) today told investors that it has hired Aidan Schoonbee as project manager for the Dutwa development project. 

Schoonbee will be responsible for the timely completion of the bankable feasibility study and the associated environmental and social impact assessment. These pivotal reports are due for completion later this year.

He has over 20 years experience in the mining industry and his most recent role was as senior project manager for De Beers associate Debswana Diamond Company. There he managed the Morupule Colliery Expansion in Botswana, managing the project from feasibility study through to operation.

"I am delighted that someone of the quality of Aidan Schoonbee has elected to join African Eagle at a time of fierce competition for high quality management in the minerals market,” said chief executive Trevor Moss.

“This is a testament to the strength of Dutwa when compared to other development projects.  Aidan's extensive experience in high quality project delivery in Africa is an essential skill that will be of fundamental benefit to the definition and development of Dutwa".

Ocean Equities analyst Christopher Welch says its vital that African Eagle de-risks the Dutwa project because the project has sufficient scale to attract mid-tier or major mining companies. He believes that the appointment of Schoonbee is a boost in this respect.

“Appointing a project manager with Aidan’s background and his vital ‘big company’ experience further de-risks the BFS stage of Dutwa,” Welch said.

He added: “Essentially, Dutwa is a metallurgical play. The rare form of laterite, is more like a nickel oxide project than the more common wet-type laterite deposits found in Southeast Asia.

“This means that the ore is amenable to atmospheric leaching; early tests have shown that the ore has good leach kinetics where the nickel comes out quickly at low acid consumption rates.”

Accordingly Welch believes that Schoonbee’s background and experience in metallurgy combined with his BFS and financing experience will greatly benefit African Eagle.

“In its evolution from an exploration company into a development company African Eagle is bolstering its management team with proven mine builders.

“The fact that African Eagle and Dutwa have been able to attract well respected and experienced managers at a time when competition for such individuals is fierce is further indication of the quality of the project.”

Last week African Eagle confirmed that the World Bank’s investment arm, the IFC, had signed an agreement to invest US$5 million into the company.

This investment sees the IFC take a 10 per cent stake in the company. The funds will help African Eagle evaluate the Dutwa nickel project, primarily contributing to the bankable feasibility study.

Analysts believe that having the IFC as a key investor will assist the company in attracting future investments for the project. 

Schoonbee will be responsible for the timely completion of the bankable feasibility study and the associated environmental and social impact assessment. These pivotal reports are due for completion later this year.

He has over 20 years experience in the mining industry and his most recent role was as senior project manager for De Beers associate Debswana Diamond Company. There he managed the Morupule Colliery Expansion in Botswana, managing the project from feasibility study through to operation. 

"I am delighted that someone of the quality of Aidan Schoonbee has elected to join African Eagle at a time of fierce competition for high quality management in the minerals market,” said chief executive Trevor Moss.

“This is a testament to the strength of Dutwa when compared to other development projects.  Aidan's extensive experience in high quality project delivery in Africa is an essential skill that will be of fundamental benefit to the definition and development of Dutwa". 

Last week African Eagle confirmed that the World Bank’s investment arm, the IFC, had signed an agreement to invest US$5 million into the company.

This investment sees the IFC take a 10 per cent stake in the company. The funds will help African Eagle evaluate the Dutwa nickel project, primarily contributing to the bankable feasibility study.

Analysts believe that having the IFC as a key investor will assist the company in attracting future investments for the project.

African Eagle Resources (LON:AFE) has confirmed that the World Bank’s investment arm, the IFC, has signed an agreement to invest US$5 million into the company.

This investment sees the IFC take a 10 per cent stake in the company.

The funds will help African Eagle evaluate the Dutwa Nickel project, primarily contributing to the bankable feasibility study. The pivotal study is already underway and is scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

African Eagle said it expects the funds to be disbursed by the IFC this month.

“We are pleased to have secured the IFC's investment through the signature of the final form subscription agreement and are working hard to satisfy the final outstanding conditions so that funds can be disbursed in January whilst progressing with our bankable feasibility study for Dutwa," said chief executive Trevor Moss.

As requested by the IFC African Eagle has agreed publicly to disclose any material payments to the Tanzanian Government.

"IFC is pleased to have signed an equity agreement with African Eagle Resources to support the company's Dutwa Nickel project in Tanzania, which has the potential to become a major African Nickel producer should the current feasibility study work continue to be successful,” added Tom Butler, Head of Mining at the IFC, Tom Butler. 

“We look forward to helping African Eagle Resources implement environmental and social best practices for its mining activities."