PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Ionic Rare Earths has completed a A$30-million capital raise to fund exploration and feasibility work at its Makuutu project, in Uganda.

The company on Monday said that it had received firm commitments from key existing shareholders and global institutional investors for the placement of more than 405.4-million shares, at a price of 7.4c each.

The issue price represented a 10% discount to Ionic’s ten-day volume weighted average share price, and a 12.7% premium to its 30-day volume weighted average share price. The shares will be issued under the company’s existing placement capacity, and will settle on April 20.

“This is a very positive milestone for Ionic and our plans to develop the Makuutu rare earths project and to take Seren Technology forward,” said MD Tim Harrison.

“The extremely strong support we received from institutional and existing shareholders allows us to now commit to accelerating development timeframes for both the Makuutu rare earths project and the newly acquired heavy rare earth separation and magnet recycling businesses of Seren Technologies. The global interest in the capital raising is a testament to the potential of the company and we are excited to secure this support from institutional investors at this defining moment of the company’s development.”

“We are seeing a significant step-change in interest for the magnet rare earth and heavy rare earth content from Makuutu. With a greater end-user understanding of supply risk for key magnet rare earths, we believe that the company’s integrated business will become an increasingly important strategic asset as demand for a secure, sustainable supply of magnet and heavy rare earths increases and geopolitical tensions remain high.”

In addition to funding feasibility studies at Makuutu, funds will also go towards the demonstration plants and to making a final investment decision on the project.

A 2021 scoping study estimated that the project would have a mine life of 11 years.

The base case scoping study considered an openpit mine with a run-of-mine feed to a modular heap leach plant, where rare earth oxide would be recovered in the form of a mixed rare earth carbonate.

The base case assumed that the first module would process at a rate of 2.5-million tonnes a year and would produce 800 t/y of rare earth oxide equivalent product, with additional modules to be added in the second, fourth, sixth and ninth year of operations, to increase plant throughput to 12.5-million tonnes a year by year ten.