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Macarthur Minerals (ASX:MIO) to pocket $7.5m through oversubscribed private placement

ASX News, Materials
ASX:MIO      MCAP $12.90M
31 March 2022 17:13 (AEST)

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Macarthur Minerals (MIO) has successfully tapped private investors for $7.5 million through an oversubscribed share placement to fund work at its flagship Lake Giles iron project in WA’s Yilgarn region.

The listed miner will issue 15 million new shares at 50 cents a pop to the sophisticated and institutional investors, with this price tag representing a one per cent premium to MIO’s 30-day volume-weighted average price.

Each new share comes with one attaching option exercisable at 65 cents within 24 months from its issue date.

Macarthur said the cash boost would be used for post-feasibility-study optimisation work at Lake Giles as the company advances discussions on its main round of financing for the WA magnetite project.

Chairman Cameron McCall said today’s private placement would position the company to move forward with necessary work to progress Lake Giles.

“Following the recent completion of the feasibility study for the project, the company is well-placed to continue to pursue its strategy of transitioning from explorer to high-grade magnetite producer,” Mr McCall said.

Macarthur released the feasibility study for Lake Giles earlier this month, confirming the economic viability of the project under long-term iron ore forecasts.

Specifically, the feasibility study supports a maiden ore reserve of 237 million tonnes for a 25-year mine life with a pre-tax net present value (NPV) of US$579 million (A$816 million) and a post-tax NPV of US$315 million. The represents a pre-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 13 per cent and a post-tax IRR of 10.1 per cent.

Macarthur expects to be able to produce 74 million tonnes of concentrate from Lake Giles at a grade of 66.1 per cent iron for sales revenue of just over $12.6 billion.

On market close, shares in Macarthur Minerals were in the grey, trading at 54.5 cents each. The company has an $84 million market cap.

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