Rare Earth Minerals Plc (AIM: REM; OTC: REMMY) has told DirectorsTalk that it has today raised gross proceeds of approximately GBP3.55 million (US$4.93 million) through the placing of 645,619,670 new ordinary shares in the Company (“New Shares”) at 0.55 pence per share to primarily US institutional investors to fund further strategic acquisitions in the lithium sector.
In addition, each two New Shares has one warrant attached with the right to subscribe for one new ordinary share at a price of 0.8 pence per shares for a period of 2 years from 11 March 2016.
The proceeds of the fundraising will be used primarily to fund or increase our economic interest in our existing investments, all of which are anticipated to make significant progress during this calendar year. In addition, the Company is reviewing additional investments in the fast growing lithium sector.
The Company has applied for the admission of the New Shares to trading on AIM and such trading is expected to take place on or around 3 March 2016 (“Admission”). Following Admission, the Company’s issued share capital will consist of 7,461,273,165 Ordinary Shares with no Ordinary Shares held in treasury. Therefore the above figure of 7,461,273,165 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in Rare Earth Minerals under the FCA’s Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
The Company was assisted in the US by the Company’s US advisor, New York based EAS Advisors LLC, acting through Merriman Capital, Inc., a member of FINRA and SIPC. This release is informational only. Nothing in this release should be construed to be an offer to purchase or sell securities.
REM’s Chairman, Andrew Suckling, commented: “Amid a very challenging environment for financing junior mining companies I am pleased to announce the capital raising today. The majority of the placement was subscribed for by US institutions.
The global lithium sector is a very exciting place to be at the moment, and REM continues to support new large lithium projects along the development curve, such as the Sonora Lithium Project in Mexico and the Cinovec Lithium Project in the Czech Republic.
With the well-known expansion of the lithium battery manufacturing sector over the coming years, the major global banks and their analysts believe that overall lithium demand could more than double form present levels through to 2025. However even with recent announcements of planned increases in lithium production from the incumbent producers, we do not believe that these changes in capacity will be sufficient to satisfy the anticipated demand.
We believe that we have identified in our investments, assets that have the potential and the right timelines to meet these expected increased demands for lithium. In addition, these projects have cost advantages that should be able to deliver superior returns once they reach production. We look forward to providing project updates on the Company’s progress to our shareholders in the months ahead.”
