PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed gold miner Besra plans to raise about $12-million through the issue of 8% unsecured convertible redeemable notes on a private placement basis.

The company said the funds raised would cover its current debt and interest commitments due now and in March, as well as planned capital expenditure at its two operating gold mines in Vietnam.

The notes would be converted in the first 30 months of the note, at a price of $0.15 per common share and were convertible thereafter at the lower of $0.15 and the five-day volume-weighted average price, less a discount of 10% subject to a minimum conversion price of A$0.05.

The notes would mature at the end of November 2017 and bear an interest at 8% a year, payable semi-annually.

“While Besra is not alone in having faced a difficult year for small cap mining companies, it has faced some unique challenges,” said CEO John Seton.

“The current situation has largely been brought about by two sets of circumstances that can only be described as ‘force majeure’ and negatively affected production in Vietnam.”

Seton pointed out that the first issue was a disputed export tax assessment by the Vietnamese government. During this time the company was unable to import supplies and mining equipment, which negatively impacted on production at both mine sites.

With the export restrictions now lifted, Seton said that Besra was optimistic that the disputed assessments would be reduced or vacated following further review.

Meanwhile, a series of typhoons and tropical storms also seriously damaged state and internal roads leading to the Bong Mieu mine site, and operations at the mine have been suspended since November.

The project should be back in production within four to six weeks.

“While Vietnam is continuing to prove to be a challenging operating environment, we are persisting with production improvements and are looking forward to pushing ahead with the very exciting Bau project,” Seton said.

A full feasibility study for the Bau project was expected by January 20.