Group 6 Metals secures $4.5m, maiden tungsten production nears at Dolphin
First tungsten concentrate at Dolphin is planned for the current quarter.
As Group 6 Metals (ASX: G6M) closes-in on maiden production from its Dolphin tungsten mine on Tasmania’s King Island, it has secured $4.5 million in extra cash and gained a highly experienced chief financial officer.
The company raised the $4.5 million via a share purchase plan that was announced in November last year.
Initially, the offer was capped at $3 million, but due to strong demand, Group 6 accepted valid applications from shareholders totalling $4.47 million.
This will involve issuing more than 26.3 million new shares at $0.17 each, which was a 10.5% discount to the last traded price prior to the announcement.
Proceeds from the share purchase plan will be combined with the $20 million placement to fund ongoing construction and operating activities at the Dolphin mine.
New chief financial officer
As part of Group 6’s transition from developer to miner, the company created a sole chief financial officer role.
Megan McPherson had previously held both the company secretary and chief financial officer role. Ms McPherson will now focus on corporate governance and shareholder relations as company secretary, which require closer attention as the company moves towards production.
With the creation as a sole chief financial officer role, Michael Zannes has been appointed. Mr Zannes has more than 20 years’ experience in the mining industry and has built an extensive background in managing operational and corporate finance functions.
He was previously chief financial officer with Andromeda Metals (ASX: ADN) and held commercial roles with New Gold, which is listed on both the Toronto and New York stock exchanges. Other former positions include five years with Whitehaven Coal (ASX: WHC) and Xstrata Copper.
Advancing to maiden production
During the December quarter, Group 6 made steady progress on developing Dolphin.
First tungsten concentrate from the mine is scheduled in the current quarter to take advantage of prevailing high prices.
The price for refined tungsten is fetching about US$335-340 per metric tonne unit of ammonium paratungstate (APT).
Dolphin has an initial mine life of 14 years with annual production of 275,000mtu of tungsten.
Offtake agreements have been locked-in for 65% of expected production over the first four years.
Group 6 noted Dolphin has “significant exploration upside” to build on this initial mine life.