European Metals Holdings Limited (LON:EMH, ASX:EMH) has raised £350,000 via a share placing at 15.25p a share.
In total, 2.3mln shares were placed with new and existing UK investors.
The company said the funds would be used to further the development of the Cinovec project, the lithium asset in the Czech Republic. Last month, the company agreed to give state-owned CEZ the option to invest €34.06mln and take a 51% stake in the company’s Czech subsidiary Geomet, which holds the Cinovec asset.
European Metals said the funds it has raised would enable it to continue to develop Cinovec while waiting for the CEZ Group to decide whether to pull the trigger on its planned investment; CEZ has until the end of March to make the decision.
"Following the announcement of the three-month extension to the timeline of the proposed CEZ transaction, we have received further funding proposals from equity investors. The board felt it prudent to take the opportunity to strengthen the balance sheet whilst concluding these discussions,” said Keith Coughlan, the managing director of European Metals.
“With the approval of shareholders now received at the recent EGM [extraordinary general meeting], we look forward to concluding the proposed investment by CEZ as we believe their participation in the project will be beneficial for all stakeholders,” he added.
Shares in European Metals closed at 16p yesterday, up 4.9% on the day.