Welcome to a roundup of some of our financing, exploration, and development stories on Theassay.com over the last week. To keep up to date with all the latest headlines, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Financing and M&A
To kick of the news over the last seven days, Ascendant Resources Inc. (TSX: ASND) closed the first tranche of its non-brokered private placement announced 7 December 2023. The second and final tranche to complete the offering is expected to close on or about 5 January 2024. The offering is fully subscribed, and the company is completing final settlement for the balance.
Under the first tranche, Ascendant has issued approximately 18.4M shares at C$0.08 each for gross proceeds of C$1.47M. The company intends to use the proceeds from the offering to complete an optimized feasibility study report focused on improved metallurgy and mine sequencing in Q2 2024, progressing project financing and for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Similarly, Northisle Copper and Gold Inc. (TSXV: NCX) also closed its previously announced non-brokered private placement consisting of over 1.5M shares at C$0.28 each, about 1.9M flow-through shares at C$0.35 each, 4.5M charity flow-through shares at C$0.448 each, and nearly 7M critical minerals charity flow-through shares at C$0.476 each for gross proceeds of C$6.4M.
The net proceeds from the common shares will be used for general corporate purposes. The gross proceeds from the sale of FT, CFT, and CMCFT shares will be used to incur qualifying Canadian exploration expenses within the purview of the Income Tax Act of Canada and British Columbia.
Finally, Pan Global Resources Inc. (TSXV: PGZ) approved annual grants under the shareholder-approved Omnibus Equity Incentive Compensation Plan of 2,037,500 incentive stock options to officers, directors, employees, and consultants to the company; and of 800,000 restricted share units (RSUs) to senior management of the company.
The incentive stock options entitle the holders to purchase the equivalent number of common shares of the company at a price of C$0.20 per common share for a period of five years from the date of grant.
New exploration and development
In a significant legal development, American Lithium Corp. (TSXV:LI) has been notified that INGEMMET and MINEM have filed petitions to the Supreme Court of Peru to challenge the title of 32 concessions out of a total of 174 owned by the company’s subsidiary, Macusani Yellowcake. The company believes these petitions have no merit and expects the Supreme Court to reject them.
Simon Clarke, CEO of American Lithium, says: “We are confident that the Supreme Court will uphold the Superior Court ruling and put an end to this baseless case. We are committed to developing our projects in a responsible and sustainable manner, in collaboration with the local communities, the regional authorities and the national government. We believe our projects will bring significant benefits to all stakeholders and contribute to Peru’s economic and social development.”
Over in Uganda, Ionic Rare Earths Limited (ASX: IXR) has announced that the Ugandan Directorate of Geological Survey and Mines (DGSM) has provisionally granted the Stage 1 large scale mining licence (LML00334) over retention licence (RL) 1693 for the Makuutu Heavy Rare Earths Project.
This represents the first large scale mining licence to be awarded in Uganda under the Mining Act 2022, which was announced on the Ugandan Mining Cadastre portal. The Ugandan Minister of Energy and Mineral Development (MEMD), the honourable Dr Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, is expected to sign the documents within a week from 28 December, prior to gazetting.
Ionic Rare Earths managing director, Tim Harrison, said the provisional award is part of the official commitment from the Government of the Republic of Uganda and clears the path for the Makuutu Project and the ongoing development of Uganda’s mining industry.
“This is an important step forward for Ionic Rare Earths in mining, refining, and recycling the heavy rare earths critical for the energy transition, advanced manufacturing, and defence,” Harrison said.
Other company news
Finally, in people moves, St George Mining Limited (ASX: SGQ) has appointed Kecheng Cai as a non-executive director of the company, with effect from 1 January 2024.
Cai is a senior executive of Shanghai Jayson New Energy Co., Ltd which, through its wholly owned subsidiary Hong Kong Jayson Holding Co., Ltd, is the largest shareholder in St George Mining with an 11.73% shareholding.
