Zinc recycling specialist Zincox Resources (LON:ZOX) has raised £300,000 through a placing at a big premium to the market price.
The money is enough to tide it over for a year it said while it looks for a new opportunity for its furnace dust technology after it handed back its Korean plant to its partner in April.
Specifically, Zincox is working with EETAC, a consortium of US and international investors that is mulling a bid for the metallurgical complex of La Oroya and Cobriza in Peru, and GreenNovo, a zinc dust recycling specialist focused on China.
At La Ororya, now in liquidation, ZincOx is advising on technical, operational and business aspects relating to restart of the zinc circuit at a rate of 75,000t per annum in return for a carried interest in the project.
La Oroya is one of the largest polymetallic treatment facilities in the world, which has historically produced annually up to 53,000t of copper, 79,000t of zinc, 114,000t of lead, 1,000t of silver, as well as six other metals including gold.
GreenNovo, meanwhile, is world's largest recycler of steel waste dusts and operates sixteen Waelz kilns across China.
Currently it processes zinc-bearing concentrates by leaching and electrowinning to make SHG zinc metal and six other by-products, Zincox said, but it is looking for new areas.
Following the placing, at 1p or a 60% premium to yesterday’s close, Zincox said it will have cash of £440,000, enough for a year.
Rod Beddows, the chairman of ZincOx, said: "This placing gives the company the wherewithal to evaluate various exciting opportunities using our extensive metallurgical expertise."
Zincox added finance director Simon Hall is to leave and will be replaced by a part time appointee.