Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
20 July 2009capital raising announcement▲ GoodMajor
Completes the placement of 82.6m shares at 12c with 41.3m attaching options, raising A$9.9m before costs, after the 9 July approval. Polo's Paul Ingram joins the board; Polo holds 49.56m shares, about 11.95%. Resolves the placement thread.
What it means for a shareholder
82.6m new shares at A$0.120 to raise about A$9.9m. That's 18% dilution: every existing holder's slice gets 18% smaller. If you held A$1,000 of shares (8,333 at the issue price), your slice goes from 0.00228% to 0.00186% of the company. To keep it you'd need 1,880 more shares - about A$226 at the issue price.
Plans a drilling campaign at Marenica with up to A$5m over six months: 5,000m RC infill, a 100-hole west exploration program, 5,000m for primary uranium, and re-probing of about 750 historic holes. Shareholders approved the A$9.9m placement on 9 July. Swakopmund office leased.
Re-lodged release of the 29 June probe results: best intercepts 6.5m at 183ppm (MARD034) and 12.7m at 135ppm eU3O8 (MARD037), with visible uraninite at 38.7m. Eastern target is not high priority but supports primary uranium potential. Exploration drilling is planned from August.
WME says it has held no formal talks with Areva, Rio Tinto or anyone else about selling or joint-venturing Marenica, responding to media speculation. It intends to develop the project itself, with a scoping study in the second half of 2009.
Prospectus for a nominal offer of 1,000 shares at 12c (A$120) with options. Its stated purpose is to let shares from earlier issues, including the convertible note shares, be freely on-sold. Administrative, not new funding.
Probe results from the primary-target holes include 12.7m at 135ppm eU3O8 (MARD037) and 6.5m at 183ppm (MARD034). The company calls the eastern target not high priority but a confirmation of potential; RC drilling is planned from August.
Batavia has issued a conversion notice turning its A$2.1m of notes into 30m WME shares at 7c, with the market price at 23.5c. Completes the conversion flagged on 2 June and removes the debt.
SRK's preliminary mineralogy finds the main uranium mineral in calcrete and secondary ore is carnotite (about 85%+), and expects better than 75% extraction from supergene ore. It says the earlier 2008 AMMTEC testwork sample was not representative. Positive for the processing route; still preliminary.
June investor update repeats known facts: 34m lb Inferred resource, A$5m 2009 budget, Polo as cornerstone, cash A$1.1m, market cap A$56m. It says the market values the resource below peers' per-pound sale prices. No new results.
5 June 2009capital raising announcement▲ GoodMajor
Polo Resources (AIM) takes 49.56m of the 82.6m placement shares at 12c (about A$5.95m), for roughly 11.95%. Its director Paul Ingram will join the board. The company also ends its administration contract with Corporate Admin Services, costing about A$880,000 and paid from the placement. A$5m 2009 exploration budget.
Batavia says it intends to convert its A$2.1m of notes into 30m WME shares at 7c, with the market price at 19.5c. Resolves the convertible note thread, with the shares tradable after the placement.
1 June 2009capital raising announcement▲ GoodMajor
Paterson Securities is mandated to place up to 82.6m shares at 12c to raise up to A$9.9m, with one option at 25c (to 30 June 2011) per two shares. It exceeds existing shareholder approval, so a new meeting is planned for 9 July. Follows cash of about A$1.6m.
What it means for a shareholder
82.6m new shares at A$0.120 to raise about A$9.9m. That's 20% dilution: every existing holder's slice gets 20% smaller. If you held A$1,000 of shares (8,333 at the issue price), your slice goes from 0.0025% to 0.00201% of the company. To keep it you'd need 2,068 more shares - about A$248 at the issue price.
Diamond hole MARD038 intersected hydrothermally altered granite from 33 to 46m with scintillometer readings to 750cps at Marenica East, the first sign of primary uranium. A$3m more is allocated to follow-up RC drilling, and work to upgrade the resource from Inferred to Indicated starts in June.
Probe results from the metallurgical diamond holes include 21.5m at 748ppm eU3O8 (MARD031). Further chemical assays on 983 earlier RC samples are also positive. Results feed an updated resource estimate in 2009; samples go to Mintek for testwork.
Metallurgical drilling at Marenica finished: 31 PQ holes for 562m, with visible carnotite in palaeochannel and bedrock. Next phase of HQ holes now started on primary targets on the southern Dome margin. Probe results expected early May; the 34m lb resource is unchanged.
Kevin Judge resigns as a director and from subsidiaries at close of business 9 April 2009, days after handing the chair to Graham Woolford. No reason is given.
The exercise price of CEO John Young's 3m options is cut from 22c to 15c, to be issued 8 April 2009; he also gets a company vehicle. Changes the terms announced on 27 January 2009.
Graham Woolford, an Oxford MBA with 30+ years of business development experience, becomes Non-executive Chairman from 6 April 2009, replacing Kevin Judge, who stays on as a director. Another change to the board after the late-2008 turnover.
Lab assays on the first 466 of about 2,000 samples confirm earlier probe results, with best 24m at 1,057ppm U3O8 (MAR510) and 14m at 674ppm (MAR627). Supports the October 2008 gamma readings but does not change the 34m lb resource.
About 1,500m of diamond drilling starts 1 April at Marenica: 28 shallow holes for metallurgical samples from the 34m lb resource, then hard-rock targets on the Marenica Dome margin. Aims to set a processing route for a scoping study later in 2009.
Dr Erik van Noort, a palaeochannel geochemistry specialist, is appointed Senior Geologist for Marenica. The company says the completed A$1.4m convertible note funds will pay for this year's Marenica work.
Batavia says the A$1.4m note conditions are met and the investment has proceeded. It will add A$700,000 of further convertible notes on the same terms, after documentation, taking its total to A$2.1m.
The shareholders agreement with Namibian partner Jaco Smith and Marenica Minerals is signed, securing WME's 80% interest in Marenica; this was a condition of Batavia's investment. Resource model reinterpretation has begun and diamond drilling is planned for late March or April.
Company agrees a A$1.4m unsecured convertible note facility with Batavia Mining (a company Neil Biddle also directs): 8% interest, 12-month term, convertible into 20m shares at 7c. Follows cash of about A$0.5m reported for December.
Batavia's own notice of the same A$1.4m convertible note: 8%, 12 months, convertible at 7c into 20m WME shares. Adds that WME has about 330m shares and describes Marenica; no new terms.
27 Jan 2009director officer appointment▲ GoodMajor
John Young, a geologist and former CEO of Thor Mining, becomes CEO on 27 January 2009 on A$190,000 plus super and 3m unlisted options at 22c expiring 30 June 2010. Fills the role vacated by Stokes in November.
Neil Biddle, a geologist and Managing Director of TNG Ltd and director of Batavia Mining, joins the board on 29 December 2008. Replaces the vacancies left by recent resignations.
CSA Global is appointed geological adviser for Marenica, with Paddy Reidy as Technical Manager. CSA is reviewing the last drilling and preparing a 2009 work program leading to scoping studies.
