Taruga Minerals (ASX:TAR) to launch cap raise this week

• Junior miner Taruga Minerals (TAR) has frozen its shares this morning as it prepares to tap investors for some extra funds
• The details of the raise will be announced on Wednesday morning when Taruga comes out of its trading halt
• This is the first capital raise launched by the company since the appointment of new CEO Thomas Line
• The company is in the middle of an option agreement with Strikeline Resources to take control of the Flinders and Torrens projects in South Australia
• At the end of June, Taruga had $2 million in the bank after spending $156,000 over the June quarter
• Shares in Taruga last traded for 6.5 cents each on Friday afternoon

Junior miner Taruga Minerals (TAR) has frozen its shares this morning as it prepares to tap investors for some extra funds.

The company is yet to reveal exactly how much it plans to raise, but shares are frozen until Wednesday, September 2, as Taruga finalises the details of the plan.

The raise is the first taken on by Taruga since new CEO Thomas Line took hold of company reigns. Thomas took the lead role at Taruga in early July, previously having worked for private South Australian explorer SIMEC Mining as a Senior Exploration Geologist.

In mid-May, Taruga struck a $1.69 million 12-month option deal to buy Strikeline Resources’ Flinders Project, an iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) project in South Australia. When Thomas was appointed CEO, Taruga said it had also amended this deal to also include the adjoining Torrens Project.

Under the Strikeline deal, Taruga will need to cough up the majority of the $1.69 million upon hitting some performance milestones at Strikeline’s Flinders Project. The work will include the delineating of a JORC indicated resources, the completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study, and the kicking-off of first production from the project.

Taking a look at Taruga’s financials, the company had roughly $2 million in the bank at the end of June after spending $156,000 over the June quarter.

While, at those spending levels, Taruga still has over three years’ worth of cash in the bank, it’s likely the company plans to increase spending as it edges towards landing Flinders’ milestones and subsequently taking full control of the project.

Taruga is also exploring for nickel, copper, gold, and platinum group elements (PGEs) in Western Australia.

Shares in Taruga last traded for 6.5 cents each on Friday afternoon. The company has a $25.38 million market cap.