PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Australian Pacific Coal (AQC) will raise A$12-million through an institutional placement and accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer to provide working capital for the Dartbrook mine, ahead of a restart in the fourth quarter of this year.

The institutional placement raised A$4-million through the placement of 36-million shares at a price of 11c each to new and existing institutional and sophisticated investors.

A 1-for-4.75 accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer, also priced at 11c a share, is expected to raise a further A$8-million.

The entitlement offer will be undertaken in two phases, including an institutional component to raise A$6-million, and a retail component to raise a further A$2-million.

“This injection of new equity is testament to the underlying value of the Dartbrook project and the progress that has been made to substantially de-risk the restart of the mine. In just under eight months, we have fully de-watered the Dartbrook tunnel, implemented the joint venture agreement, improved the estimated yields and product quality via the new mine plan, and reclaimed a higher working interest in the Dartbrook project for AQC shareholders,” said interim CEO Ayten Saridas on Thursday.

“AQC has funded the project through to today, which has placed us in a significantly stronger position to finalise the financing that is required to restart production in the fourth quarter of this year.

“Thanks to the strong support of our shareholders, the funds raised via the placement and accelerated non-renounceable entitlement offer will allow us to maintain the positive momentum at Dartbrook while we finalise financing negotiations with interested parties over the coming weeks.”

AQC has previously noted that the restart of the Dartbrook operation would require a capital investment of up to A$120-million. To date, the company has provided A$20-million through loans to the Dartbrook joint venture.

The company recently received a non-binding letter of intent from a global commodities firm for up to $50-million in debt funding.