St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ) closed a share purchase (SPP) on May 29 with substantial oversubscriptions and has raised $3.6 million.
This has strengthened the company's balance sheet and supports an expansion of the drill campaign underway to test high‐grade nickel‐copper sulphide targets at the Mt Alexander Nickel-Copper Sulphide Project.
Total applications received under the SPP amounted to $9.37 million and given the high level of demand, applications have been scaled back.
Increase on original target
$3.6 million was the maximum amount sought under the SPP and this is a significant increase on the originally announced SPP target of $1.6 million.
Funds raised under the SPP are in addition to the $3.6 million raised in a private placement completed in May 2020.
Funds to "step up" pace of drilling
Executive chairman John Prineas said: “The capital raisings completed over the past month have substantially boosted our cash reserves and allow us to step‐up the pace of drilling at Mt Alexander.
“RC drilling is already underway and the first of two diamond rigs will arrive at site this week.
“It’s an exciting time for St George, and we thank shareholders for their outstanding support of the SPP.”
Scale‐back of applications
Applicants under the SPP will receive a letter in the coming days from Computershare with confirmation of their personal allocations and a refund cheque, where applicable.
The scale‐back has been undertaken in line with a protocol designed to deliver a fair and equitable allocation to eligible shareholders.
In most cases, scale‐backs are on a pro‐rata basis having regard to the relative shareholding of applicants as at the record date.
Key aspects of the allocation protocol are:
- Applications from persons holding an unmarketable parcel as at the record date (deemed as less than 1,000 shares) were excluded from the SPP;
- Late applications were excluded from the SPP;
- Other applications from eligible shareholders were admitted to the SPP but only up to a maximum amount allowed for their size of shareholding as at the record date; and
- A pro‐rata scale‐back was applied to all admitted applications at the rate of approximately 40%.
Shares under the SPP are expected to be allotted on June 9, with trading on the ASX to commence on June 10.
St George has made multiple discoveries of high‐grade nickel-copper-cobalt‐PGE mineralisation across a 5.5-kilometre strike of the Cathedrals Belt, a large fertile belt that is interpreted to extend over 16 kilometres within the area of the Mt Alexander Project.
The project is 120 kilometres SSW of the Agnew‐Wiluna Belt, which hosts numerous world‐class nickel deposits.