Aureus Mining secures $30m equity financing

15th Jun 2016 15:26

(ShareCast News) - Aureus Mining has secured equity financing of $30m with MNG Gold Jersey, which it said will strengthen the balance sheet and fund working capital as it completes the restart of the processing plant at the New Liberty gold mine in Liberia.The $30m equity investment at 3.21p per share represents a premium of 22.3% to the closing price on AIM on Tuesday.MNG Gold will become a 55% shareholder in Aureus and appoint three representatives to the board.The shares to be placed with MNG Gold will be in two tranches, one of 59.5m shares and one of 331.1m, all at 3.21p per share.Following the completion of the placing, Aureus will have a new management team, with Serhan Umurhan to be appointed chief executive officer as current CEO David Reading resigns.Geoff Eyre, currently chief financial officer of MNG, will be appointed CFO of Aureus, while current CFO Paul Thomson will resign but stay on for 12 months in a consultancy role.Aureus said funds raised will be used to reduce outstanding creditor balances, bolster working capital and facilitate the ramp up of the processing plant which is scheduled to be restarted from mid-June 2016.Chairman David Netherway said: "Our board formed a Special Committee in January of this year to conduct a review of the strategic options available to enhance shareholder value. We believe that this transaction, which will result in MNG Gold becoming a major shareholder, will provide Aureus with an exciting future as we prepare to restart production at New Liberty and aim to optimise the asset to deliver on its full potential."MNG Gold has strong financial backing, operational experience and is an existing operator in Liberia. This transaction will recapitalise the company and places it in a much stronger position to move forward."At 1545 BST, Aureus shares were up 33% to 3.50p.