Aureus Mining (LON:AUE, TSE:AUE) confirmed that it has completed a share placing, raising net proceeds of C$32.7 million, or £20.9 million.
It has issued 27 million new shares priced at C$1.30, or 83 pence, each.
The new funds have been earmarked for the definitive feasibility study at the 1.5 million ounce New Liberty gold project in Liberia. This work will include priority drilling and follow-up exploration programmes.
"The completion of the fund raise represents a major building block in the birth of Aureus Mining,” chief executive David Reading said.
“The Company now has the capacity to achieve its principal objectives of completing the definitive feasibility study on the New Liberty project and expanding the current resources through the implementation of our aggressive drilling programmes."
The funding was arranged by a syndicate of underwriters – led by RBC Capital Markets and GMP Securities, also including Clarus Securities, Jennings Capital and Raymond James – who still have another 30 days to sell over-allotment shares.
Almost C$5 million, or £3.13 million, could be raised from over-allotments – the underwriters can sell another 15 percent of the initial funding.
The company was finally spun-out, as part of a demerger known as a butterfly-split last month when African Aura split into two separate companies, Afferro Metals (LON and Aureus Mining.
Shortly after it became an independent company it told that it is on-track to complete the definitive feasibility study (DFS) for the New Liberty gold project in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Meanwhile it is set to accelerate drilling work with several new rigs set to join the programme, on both New Liberty and the earlier stage exploration projects like Ndablama.
At New Liberty a 4,500 metre of in-fill drilling programme was completed and now another 15,000 metres is planned, with additional rigs being brought in to complete the drilling on schedule in the third quarter.
The drilling is designed to add additional resource tonnages - on top of the current 1.5 million ounce resource - within the current defined pit shell and to gather samples for metallurgical testing as it finalises the design parameters for the plant. Also significant portion of the drilling, about 8,000 metres, will help optimise the pit wall design.
The DFS is looking at an open pit and gold processing plant for 850,000 tonnes of ore each year, for a 8.5 year production life. New Liberty is expected to produce an average 100,000 ounces a year in the first five years.