Elevate Uranium boosts cash position with $10m placement, eyes scoping study at Koppies

Elevate Uranium (ASX: EL8) has received binding commitments to raise $10 million to assist with its growing development plans in Namibia and Australia.

Managing director Murray Hill says the placement was well-supported by existing significant shareholders and has brought a number of new, high quality institutional, sophisticated and professional investors to the company’s share register.

“Demand for the $10 million placement was strong and it was great to see such a tangible endorsement of our strategy. The placement adds further depth to our register, strengthens our financial position and allows us to press on to aggressively advance our flagship Koppies project in Namibia and explore our other projects in Namibia and Australia.”

“In an increasingly buoyant uranium price environment, we will have five drill rigs operating in Namibia alone.”

Cash in the bank

Elevate is building a strong cash position as it prepares for a very active 2024.

The new funds, in addition to the company’s existing cash reserves of $7.1 million, will be used to undertake resource in-fill and expansion drilling, metallurgical test work and commencement of a scoping study at the flagship Koppies project.

In early November, Elevate reported a 136% increase with the release of an updated joint ore reserves committee-inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 48 million pounds of uranium ore for Koppies.

Koppies is one of the shallowest uranium resources globally, with 95% of the resource within approximately 15 metres of the surface and 50% of the resource within approximately 6 metres of the surface.

MRE updates looming

The new funds will support the company’s plans to release further MRE updates in 2024, with three drill rigs currently operating to expand the resource.

Drilling, which is being undertaken south of Koppies 2 and into Koppies 4, is expected to be completed during the March quarter of 2024.

The new capital will also support metallurgical test work at Koppies and provide the foundation for an U-pgrade pilot plant.

U-pgrade is Elevate’s wholly-owned patented beneficiation process which rejects greater than 95% of the mass of uranium ore by utilising commonly-used and well-understood beneficiation unit processes that enable the removal of the non-uranium bearing minerals.

Greenfield target testing

The funds will also go towards additional drilling plans as part of Elevate’s resource growth strategy through the testing of other projects including greenfield targets across the company’s Namibian exploration portfolio.

Elevate is aiming to commission a further two additional drill rigs to execute the high-impact drilling programs.

In Australia, Elevate is planning to undertake resource drilling and additional exploration—including high-impact drilling programs at Angela and Minerva, both located in the Northern Territory.

Single-tranche placement

The funds are being accumulated under a single-tranche placement of shares at $0.42 per share. Participants will also receive one free attaching unlisted option for every two shares subscribed for in the placement.

Those options will have an exercise price of $0.60 each and a two-year expiry date.

Discovery Capital Partners and Cumulus Wealth were joint lead managers to the placement.