Lion One raising $10 million from upsized financing
Lion One Metals [LIO-TSXV, LOMLF-OTCQX, LLO-ASX] said it is upsizing a previously announced brokered private placement financing that is now expected to raise $10 million. That’s up from the earlier $7.5 million target.
In connection with the upsized offering, the company said it will issue up to 27.02 million units priced at $0.37 per unit. Each unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant, each of which will entitle the holder to acquire one share at an exercise price of 50 cents for a period of three years from the date of issuance.
The offering is expected to close by July 26, 2024 and the company said it intends to use the net proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Lion One shares were active on the news, easing 20.2% or $0.9 to 35.5 cents on volume of 1.3 million. The shares currently trade in a 52-week range of $1.04 and 37.5 cents.
Lion One’s key asset is the Tuvatu gold mine project, which covers approximately 200 square kilometres and is located in the upper Sabeto Valley on the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji.
The property is a high-grade, narrow vein, alkaline-hosted gold deposit located on five tenements held by Lion One. The project area is on a small part of the Navilawa Caldera, a 7.0-kilometre diameter geological occurrence hosting a mineral system associated with widespread alkaline magmatism. Tuvatu sits on one of the only large alkaline gold systems not owned by a major mining company.
Lion One is proceeding with development in the belief that the Navilawa Caldera hosts a very large alkaline gold system. This variety of gold system is not prolific in number globally, but ranks among the largest producers of gold in the world, with notable examples in the South Pacific including the Porgera and Lihir gold mines in Papua New Guinea and Vatukoula in Fiji. Navilawa is located 45 kilometres from the high grade Vatokoula gold mine, which hosts in an alkaline system that is similar in scale, and has produced over 7.0 million ounces of gold over the past 85 years.
The second quarter of 2024 was a milestone for the Tuvatu project, where crews recovered 3,551 ounces of gold in the quarter. That’s up from 1,394 ounces in the first quarter, representing a ramp-up of mining and processing activity during the pilot plant phase of the operation.
Q2 was the first quarter in which the plant has been operating at full capacity. “It is also the first quarter in which we have had mechanized production,’’ said Lion One CEO Walter Berukoff. He said the company looks forward to doubling the plant capacity from 300 tons per day to 600-700 tons per day and advancing towards the ultra-high-grade Zone 500.