- TNT Mines (TIN) is dipping its toes in the gold exploration market through the buyout of WA-based Warriedar Mining
- TNT will be taking full control of Warriedar through an all-scrip deal and bolstering its board with some members of the Warriedar team
- The buy gives TNT access to the Eureka and Warriedar gold projects in WA, each of which is in known goldfields and hosts gold mineralisation
- The company said it plans to kick off a 15,000-metre drilling program across the projects as soon as the buy is completed
- To fund this exploration, TNT is tapping sophisticated and professional investors for just under $4 million through a share placement
- TNT shares are up 25 per cent this afternoon at an all-time high 28 cents each
TNT Mines (TIN) is dipping its toes in the gold exploration market through the buyout of WA-based Warriedar Mining.
TNT will be buying Warriedar in an all-scrip deal and bolstering its board with members of the Warriedar team.
The Warriedar purchase gives TNT access to the Eureka and Warriedar gold projects in Western Australia, which the company said each host known mineralisation and present an outstanding exploration upside.
The Eureka project is near Kalgoorlie and the Warriedar project is in the Murchison region of WA — both well known and established goldfields close to important mining infrastructure.
The purchase
Under the terms of the purchase deal, TNT will make individual offers to each of the 27 shareholders of Warriedar.
TNT is offering 29.55 million company shares and 19.75 million unlisted options to Warriedar shareholders, proportional to their existing interest in Warriedar.
The options are exercisable at 25 cents each by October 1, 2024. Of these options, 10.5 million have no attaching conditions. The remaining 9.25 million, however, are dependent on TNT delineating an inferred mineral resource of at least 100,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of more than 1.5 grams per tonne of gold at the Eureka and Warriedar projects.
As part of the deal, three people from the Warriedar management team will join TNT’s team: Warriedar Executive Chairman Alex Hewlett will become Non-Executive Chairman of TNT, Warriedar Executive Director James Crosier will become a Non-Executive Director of TNT, and Warriedar CEO Matthew Boyes will become CEO of TNT.
Alex and James are both former Directors of Spectrum Metals (SPX), which was bought out by gold giant Ramelius Resources (RMS) earlier this year.
TNT Director Brett Mitchell spoke highly of the Warriedar management team’s track record.
“Given the outstanding value creation they delivered for Spectrum Metals shareholders, Alex and James have developed a strong and loyal following and we are excited by the possibility of recreating their Spectrum success with TNT,” Brett said.
“Warriedar stands out as a unique opportunity to acquire two Western Australian gold projects with a history of production that is positioned with immediate access to infrastructure and operating gold plants,” he said.
TNT will also pay Chieftain Securities a facilitation fee of 2 million shares and 1.25 million unlisted options.
The deal will only go ahead if all Warriedar shareholders accept their offer and if TNT can get shareholder approval at its upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM).
TNT to raise funds
In tandem with today’s purchase announcement, TNT told shareholders it will be tapping sophisticated and professional investors for $3.9 million by issuing 30 million new shares at 13 cents a pop.
Once the capital raise is finished, the new TNT will have over $5 million in cash to fund exploration at the Eureka and Warriedar projects.
TNT has already secured a drill rig for a major 15,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the two projects. The company said the program will kick off immediately after the Warriedar buyout goes through.
The company said some of the funds will also go towards advancing the company’s North American projects, which include the East Canyon uranium-vanadium project in Utah and the Pelley Ridge zinc project in Montana.
Shares in TNT Mines are up 25 per cent this afternoon, currently trading at an all-time high of 28 cents each at 12:31 pm AEDT.