Japan Gold raises $2.07 million from upsized financing
Japan Gold Corp. [JG-TSXV, JGLDF-OTCQB] said it has raised $2.07 million from an oversubscribed non-brokered private placement financing, marking an increase from the earlier $1.37 million target.
Under the terms of the offering, the company issued 25.8 million common shares at the offering price of $0.08 per share, including $1.37 million sold to Equinox Partners Investment Management LLC, a strategic investor and major shareholder of the company.
As of the closing date, Equinox holes 90.1 million shares in Japan Gold, representing approximately 30% of the issued and outstanding shares of the company.
“We are pleased to announce the successful closing of this offering, with proceeds supporting our additional initiatives in Japan, a jurisdiction responsible for its robust geological potential, low geopolitical risk, and stable mining regulatory framework,” said Japan Gold Chairman John Proust.
On Monday, the shares were unchanged at $0.09 and trade in a 52-week range of 15 cents and $0.055.
Japan Gold is a Canadian mineral exploration company with a focus on Japan’s three largest islands: Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu. The portfolio of 34 gold projects cover areas with known gold occurrences and a history of mining. These projects are prospective for high-grade epithermal gold mineralization.
The Japan leadership and operational team of geologists, drillers and technical advisers have extensive experience exploring and operating in Japan and have a record of discoveries worldwide.
The company was recently in the news when it announced sale of a 1.5% net smelter return royalty on certain of the company’s properties and assets in Japan to OR Royalties Ltd. (OR-TSX, OR-NYSE) for US$5.0 million in cash.
Japan Gold said the transaction with Osisko allows it to accelerate its exploration activities across Japan to unlock the significant mineral potential of our projects through a non-dilutive financing, As a first mover in Japan, the company has assembled a significant land position of 100%-owned permits in areas of past-producing gold mines and surrounding the Hishikari mine, a major gold deposit and one of the world’s highest grade gold producers. These districts have the geological potential to support significant discoveries, the company has said.
The company said the royalty, which Osisko agreed to purchase, is outside of a country-wide alliance between Japan Gold and Barrick Mining Corp. [ABX-TSX, B-NYSE] which was previously established to jointly explore, develop and mine certain gold mineral properties and mining projects.
The Barrick Alliance previously completed a successful two-and-a-half-year country-wide screening program of 29 projects and has selected six with the potential to host Tier 1 and Tier 2 gold ore bodies for further advancement, and two more recently acquired projects and three project extensions for initial evaluation.