Metals of Africa (ASX:MTA) has fully funded a number of major project delivery milestones after an oversubscribed share placement brought in A$3 million from investors including a potential customer.
The capital raising attracted strong interest from existing shareholders, directors and new cornerstone investors, including Navin Sidhu, CEO of a zinc-consuming Malaysian galvanising business called MMG.
Interest from zinc end-users such as MMG is expected to increase as MTA’s Kroussou zinc project in Gabon is progressed.
A tightening of zinc mine supply in the foreseeable future is expected to support the price of the commodity, which is the fourth most widely consumed metal in the world and a key ingredient in rust-prevention galvanising techniques.
The majority of the recently raised funds, however, will be used to progress detailed metallurgical testwork and a prefeasibility study (PFS) on the company’s Montepuez graphite asset in Mozambique.
MTA is now fully funded to deliver the PFS and a JORC resource at Montepuez in the fourth quarter of 2015. Metallurgical testwork aimed at the battery market and a maiden drill program at the Balama Central graphite project is also fully funded for delivery in the fourth quarter.
Last month, the company confirmed high-grade graphite mineralisation at Balama with the discovery of a large conductor anomaly along strike from Syrah Resources’ (ASX:SYR) massive graphite property, also known as Balama.
Growth in graphite demand is largely associated with an upsurge in the use of battery dependent devices and growth in energy storage industries.
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