REG - Condor Gold PLC - Condor Gold Raises £1.75 Million

Condor GoldAnnouncement

01/02/2019 10:55

RNS Number : 8376O
Condor Gold PLC
01 February 2019
 






 
 
 
 


Condor Gold plc
7th Floor         
39 St. James's Street  
London                                 
SW1A 1JD                   
Telephone    +44 020 74932784
Fax:           +44 020 74938633




1 February 2019                        
Condor Gold plc
("Condor", "Condor Gold" or the "Company")
Condor Gold Raises £1.75 Million Via a Private Placement of New Ordinary Shares
 
Condor Gold (AIM: CNR; TSX: COG) is pleased to announce a placing of 7,291,667 Units (as defined below) at a price of 24p per Unit (the "Placing Price"), including a Directors & CFO subscription of 3,221,667 Units ("Directors & CFO Subscription"), to raise in aggregate gross proceeds of £1.75 million (the "Placing"). The Placing has been undertaken by the Company with institutional and other investors. Completion of the Placing is conditional, inter alia, upon admission of the Placing Shares (as defined below) to trading on AIM. The Company has received conditional approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange (the "TSX") for the Placing. The Placing Price represents a discount of 6.7% to the closing mid-market price on 31 January 2019.
 
Each Unit comprises one ordinary share of 20p each in the Company (the "Placing Shares") and half of one share purchase warrant of the Company (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant, which is unlisted and fully transferable, will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one ordinary share at a price of 31p (which is at a 29% premium to the Placing Price) for a period of 24 months from the date on which the shares issued pursuant to the Placing are admitted to trading on AIM (the "Closing Date").
 
Mark Child, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Condor, commented:
"Condor Gold has conducted a small private placement, issuing new ordinary shares representing 11% of the Company's existing issued share capital, to raise gross proceeds of £1.75 million. The placement proceeds will be used to advance the La India Project towards production following the grant of an environmental permit to construct and operate a 2,800 tonne per day processing plant with capacity to produce 100,000 oz gold per annum. The proceeds will also be used to conduct engineering and other technical studies required to determine the economic and technical feasibility of entering production much earlier by mining a "mini pit" within the permitted La India open pit and processing the contained metal through nearby processing plants.
 
Furthermore, proceeds will be used to apply for permits for 2 satellite feeder pits (see RNS dated 28 January 2019): the Mestiza open pit Mineral Resource is 92Kt at a grade of 12.1 g/t gold (36,000 oz contained gold) in the Indicated category and 341Kt at a grade of 7.7 g/t gold (85,000 oz contained gold) in the Inferred category; the America open pit Mineral Resource is 114Kt at a grade of 8.1g/t gold (30,000 oz contained gold) in the Indicated Category and 677Kt at a grade of 3.1g/t gold (67,000 oz contained gold) in the Inferred Category."
 
 
Details of the Placing and proposed Directors & CFO Subscription
 
The Company has conducted the Placing as principal. A total of 7,291,667 Units (comprising of 7,291,667 ordinary shares and 3,645,831 Warrants) have been placed with placees at the Placing Price to raise gross proceeds of £1,750,000.
 
As part of the Placing, the Company advises that 3 Directors of the Company, namely Mark Child, Chairman and CEO, Andrew Cheatle and Jim Mellon, (both non-Executive Directors) along with Jeffrey Karoly (Chief Financial Officer), have subscribed for 41,667, 30,000, 3,125,000 and 25,000 Units respectively (together: the "Directors & CFO Subscription"), for a total of 3,221,667 Units (comprising 3,221,667 shares and 1,610,833 share purchase warrants of the Company).
 
Jim Mellon has subscribed (the "Mellon Subscription"), through Galloway Limited, a limited company which is wholly owned by Burnbrae Group Limited, which is in turn wholly owned by Jim Mellon, for a total of 3,125,000 Units (comprising 3,125,000 Ordinary shares (the "Mellon Shares") and 1,562,500 share purchase warrants of the Company) on the same terms for a sum of £750,000. Following completion of the Mellon Subscription, Jim Mellon will own a direct and indirect aggregate shareholding of 7,828,105 Ordinary Shares or 10.5% of the Company. His direct interest will be in 2,889,883 Ordinary Shares and the indirect interest will be in 4,938,222 Ordinary Shares held through Galloway Limited. 
 
Andrew Cheatle has subscribed (the "Cheatle Subscription") for a total of 30,000 Units (comprising 30,000 Ordinary shares and 15,000 share purchase warrants of the Company). Following completion of the Cheatle Subscription, Andrew Cheatle now owns directly and indirectly a shareholding of 64,884 Ordinary shares of the Company, representing 0.1% of the resultant issued share capital.
 
Mark Child has subscribed (the "Child Subscription") for a total of 41,667 Units (comprising 41,667 Ordinary shares and 20,833 share purchase warrants of the Company). Following completion of the Child Subscription, Mark Child now owns directly and indirectly a shareholding of 4,094,167 Ordinary shares of the Company, representing 5.5% of the resultant issued share capital.
 
Jeffrey Karoly has subscribed (the "Karoly Subscription") for a total of 25,000 Units (comprising 25,000 Ordinary shares and 12,500 share purchase warrants of the Company). Following completion of the Karoly Subscription, Jeffrey Karoly now owns directly and indirectly a shareholding of 97,412 Ordinary shares of the Company, representing 0.1% of the resultant issued share capital.
 
Application has been made for the Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"), with Admission of the Placing Shares excluding the Mellon Shares expected to occur on or around 8 February 2019. The subscription by Jim Mellon is conditional on receipt of funds by the Company by 22 February 2019 and accordingly Admission of the Mellon Shares is anticipated to occur on or around 26 February 2019.
 
The Placing Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares, including the right to receive all dividends and other distributions declared after the date of their issue.
 
Following Admission of the Placing Shares and excluding the Mellon Shares, the Company will have 71,346,002 ordinary shares of 20p each in issue with voting rights and admitted to trading on AIM and, following Admission of the Mellon Shares, the Company will have a total of 74,471,002 ordinary shares of 20p each in issue with voting rights and admitted to trading on AIM. This figure may then be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculation by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
 
Related Party Transaction
 
The subscription by each of Jim Mellon (through Galloway Limited), Mark Child and Andrew Cheatle ("Directors Subscriptions") is a Related Party Transaction under Rule 13 of the AIM Rules for Companies by virtue of Jim Mellon, Andrew Cheatle and Mark Child being Directors of the Company. Accordingly, the Independent Director, being Kate Harcourt, confirms that, having consulted with the Company's Nominated Adviser, the terms of their subscription are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.  
 
 
Canadian Securities Law Matters
 
The Directors' Subscription will constitute a related party transaction pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation and minority shareholder approval in connection with the Directors' Subscription in reliance on sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a), respectively, of MI 61-101, as neither the fair market value of the securities received by such parties nor the proceeds for such securities received by the Company exceeds 25% of the Company's market capitalisation as calculated in accordance with MI 61-101. The board of directors of the Company has approved the Placing, with Jim Mellon abstaining from voting.
 
A material change report with respect to the Placing is expected to be filed less than 21 days prior to the closing of the transaction. This time period is reasonable and necessary in the circumstances as the Company wishes to complete the transaction on an expedited basis for sound business reasons.
 
Special note concerning the Market Abuse Regulation
 
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 ("MAR"). Market soundings, as defined in MAR, were taken in respect of the Placing, with the result that certain persons became aware of inside information, as permitted by MAR. That inside information is set out in this announcement. Therefore, those persons that received inside information in a market sounding are no longer in possession of inside information relating to the Company and its securities.
 
- Ends -
 
For further information please visit www.condorgold.com or contact:




Condor Gold plc


Mark Child, Chairman and CEO
+44 (0) 20 7493 2784


 




Beaumont Cornish Limited


 Roland Cornish and James Biddle
+44 (0) 20 7628 3396


 




Numis Securities Limited


John Prior and James Black
+44 (0) 20 7260 1000


 




Blytheweigh


Tim Blythe, Camilla Horsfall and Megan Ray
+44 (0) 20 7138 3204


 




 
Condor Gold plc was admitted to AIM in May 2006 and dual listed on the TSX in January 2018. The Company is a gold exploration and development company with a focus on Nicaragua.
 
In August 2018, the Company announced that the Ministry of the Environment in Nicaragua had granted the Company the Environmental Permit ("EP") for the development, construction and operation of a processing plant with capacity to process up to 2,800 tonnes per day at its wholly-owned La India gold project ("La India Project"). The EP is considered to be the master permit for mining operations in Nicaragua. Condor Gold published a Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") on La India Project in December 2014, as summarised in the Technical Report entitled "Technical Report on the La India Gold Project, Nicaragua, December 2014", dated November 13, 2017 with an effective date of December 21, 2014 (the "Technical Report"), prepared in accordance with NI 43-101. The Technical Report was prepared by or under the supervision of Tim Lucks, Principal Consultant (Geology & Project Management), Gabor Bacsfalusi, Principal Consultant (Mining), Benjamin Parsons, Principal Consultant (Resource Geology), each of SRK Consulting (UK) Limited, and Neil Lincoln of Lycopodium Minerals Canada Ltd., each of whom is an independent "qualified person" as defined by NI 43-101. The PFS details an open pit gold Mineral Reserve in the Probable category of 6.9 Mt at 3.0 g/t gold for 675,000 oz gold, producing 80,000 oz gold per annum for seven years. La India Project contains a Mineral Resource in the Indicated category of 9,850Kt at 3.6 g/t gold for 1,140Koz gold in the Indicated category and 8,479Kt at 4.3g/t gold for 1,179Koz gold in the Inferred category. The Indicated Mineral Resource is inclusive of the Mineral Reserve.
 
The technical and scientific information in this press release has been reviewed, verified and approved by Andrew Cheatle, P.Geo., who is a "qualified person" as defined by NI 43-101.
 
 
Disclaimer
 
Neither the contents of the Company's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Company's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.
 
Forward Looking Statements
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are 'forward-looking information' with respect to the Company within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements with respect to: use of funds, the Mineral Resources, Mineral Reserves and future production rates and plans at the La India Project. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as: "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "strategies", "estimate", "expect", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "potential", "could", "might", "will" and similar expressions. Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made including, among others, assumptions regarding: future commodity prices and royalty regimes; availability of skilled labour; timing and amount of capital expenditures; future currency exchange and interest rates; the impact of increasing competition; general conditions in economic and financial markets; availability of drilling and related equipment; effects of regulation by governmental agencies; the receipt of required permits; royalty rates; future tax rates; future operating costs; availability of future sources of funding; ability to obtain financing and assumptions underlying estimates related to adjusted funds from operations. Many assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of the Company and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct.
 
Such forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including, risks related to: mineral exploration, development and operating risks; estimation of mineralisation, resources and reserves; environmental, health and safety regulations of the resource industry; competitive conditions; operational risks; liquidity and financing risks; funding risk; exploration costs; uninsurable risks; conflicts of interest; risks of operating in Nicaragua; government policy changes; ownership risks; permitting and licencing risks; artisanal miners and community relations; difficulty in enforcement of judgments; market conditions; stress in the global economy; current global financial condition; exchange rate and currency risks; commodity prices; reliance on key personnel; dilution risk; payment of dividends; as well as those factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 dated March 29, 2018, available under the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
 
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required by law.
 
Jim Mellon 




1


Details of the  person  discharging  managerial  responsibilities  /  person  closely associated




a)


Name


Jim Mellon
 




2


Reason for notification




a)


Position / status


Non-Executive Director




b)


Initial notification
/Amendment


Initial




3


Details of the issuer,  emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor




a)


Name


Condor Gold plc
 




b)


LEI


213800PFKETQA86RHL82
 




4


Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted




a)


Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument
 
Identification code


3,125,000 Ordinary shares of 20 pence each in Condor Gold plc
 
 
ISIN GB00B8225591
 
 




 


Nature of the transaction


Director's participation in a Subscription
 




c)


Price(s) and volumes(s)


 




Price(s)


Volumes(s)




24 pence


3,125,000




 
 




d)


Aggregated information


n/a




e)


Date of the transaction


1 February 2019




f)


Place of the transaction


London Stock Exchange, AIM (XLON)




 
Andrew Cheatle




1


Details of the  person  discharging  managerial  responsibilities  /  person  closely associated




a)


Name


Andrew Cheatle
 




2


Reason for notification




a)


Position / status


Non-Executive Director




b)


Initial notification
/Amendment


Initial




3


Details of the issuer,  emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor




a)


Name


Condor Gold plc
 




b)


LEI


213800PFKETQA86RHL82
 




4


Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted




a)


Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument
 
Identification code


30,000 Ordinary shares of 20 pence each in Condor Gold plc
 
 
ISIN GB00B8225591
 
 




 


Nature of the transaction


Director's participation in a Subscription
 




c)


Price(s) and volumes(s)


 




Price(s)


Volumes(s)




24 pence


30,000




 
 




d)


Aggregated information


n/a




e)


Date of the transaction


1 February  2019




f)


Place of the transaction


London Stock Exchange, AIM (XLON)




 
Mark Child




1


Details of the  person  discharging  managerial  responsibilities  /  person  closely associated




a)


Name


Mark Child
 




2


Reason for notification




a)


Position / status


Executive Chairman




b)


Initial notification
/Amendment


Initial




3


Details of the issuer,  emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor




a)


Name


Condor Gold plc
 




b)


LEI


213800PFKETQA86RHL82
 




4


Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted




a)


Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument
 
Identification code


41,667 Ordinary shares of 20 pence each in Condor Gold plc
 
 
ISIN GB00B8225591
 
 




 


Nature of the transaction


Director's participation in a Subscription
 




c)


Price(s) and volumes(s)


 




Price(s)


Volumes(s)




24 pence


41,667




 
 




d)


Aggregated information


n/a




e)


Date of the transaction


1 February  2019




f)


Place of the transaction


London Stock Exchange, AIM (XLON)




 


 


 




 
Jeffrey Karoly




1


Details of the  person  discharging  managerial  responsibilities  /  person  closely associated




a)


Name


Jeffrey Karoly
 




2


Reason for notification




a)


Position / status


Chief Financial Officer




b)


Initial notification
/Amendment


Initial




3


Details of the issuer,  emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor




a)


Name


Condor Gold plc
 




b)


LEI


213800PFKETQA86RHL82
 




4


Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted




a)


Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument
 
Identification code


25,000 Ordinary shares of 20 pence each in Condor Gold plc
 
 
ISIN GB00B8225591
 
 




 


Nature of the transaction


Participation in a Subscription
 




c)


Price(s) and volumes(s)


 




Price(s)


Volumes(s)




24 pence


25,000




 
 




d)


Aggregated information


n/a




e)


Date of the transaction


1 February  2019




f)


Place of the transaction


London Stock Exchange, AIM (XLON)




 
 
 
 
 
 




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