Canadian company Trigon Metals, which has operations in Namibia and Morocco, is raising funds for further mineral exploration at its Namibian projects.
According to Trigon’s chief executive officer, Jed Richardson, the company closed its previously announced private placement offering of units after which it issued 25 million units at a price of US$0,20 per unit for gross proceeds of US$5 million (about N$100 million) in total.
He says the offering was led by Beacon Securities Limited as lead agent on behalf of a syndicate of agents that included Echelon Wealth Partners Inc.
The company plans to use the net proceeds of the offering for mineral exploration activities at the company’s Kombat project in Namibia, its Silver Hill project in Morocco, and for general working capital requirements.
In Namibia, the company holds an 80% interest in five mining licences in the Otavi Mountainlands, an area widely recognised for its high-grade copper deposits, where the company is focused on the exploration and redevelopment of the previously producing Kombat Mine.
Trigon Metals officially recommenced mining at Kombat Mine on 9 May this year, with a successful first mining blast and restart of mining operations from its open pit.
The company aims to produce more than four million pounds of copper by next March.
This amount is expected to reach 6,8 million pounds in the first full year of production.
The mine was shut down due to underground flooding in 2008.
The restart happened ahead of the scheduled date, the company says, and will see the mill stockpiled with ore from current operations.
The first concentrate shipments from its mill are expected to begin in the second quarter of the fiscal year.
In the next quarter, water pumping is expected to start from underground, while the reopening of the underground mine could take place next year.
Operations at Kombat Mine started in 1962 and continued till 2008.
It produced a total amount of 12,46 million tonnes of 2,6% grading copper ore on average.
According to online publication Mining Technology, the mine has more than US$100 million worth of usable infrastructure in place, including a 1 100t/day mill, and an 800m shaft with two vertical shafts.
Other infrastructure includes extensive underground workings, a tailings facility, ramp systems, mine buildings and a concentrator.
One of the major benefits of the mine is its proximity to the port of Walvis Bay and the town of Tsumeb, one of five commercial-grade smelters in Africa.
– email: matthew@namibian.com.na
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