AFR: Austral seeks $15m at 37c

Capital raises are back for listed resources juniors, with a spate of cash calls on Wednesday morning.

Queensland copper producer Austral Resources, lithium and gold explorer Calidus Resources and oil explorer 88 Energy were pitching investors for fresh funds on Wednesday morning.

In the second-biggest listed raise for the day, Austral had Petra Capital offering shares at 37¢ a pop, a 17.8 per cent discount to the last close.

It needed the $15 million to fund exploration and working capital, and to partially repay its debt facility with Wingate, the term sheet said.

Austral has a 60 million ton mineral resource at 0.7 per cent copper in Mt Isa district. Its Anthill project was expected to produce from the second half this year, while the Mt Kelly processing facility has 30,000 tons annual solvent extraction and electrowinning capacity.

Petra was calling for bids by 3pm and had room for oversubscriptions, according to the terms mailed out to investors.

Austral had $7.2 million cash at June end and $27.9 million debt as of Tuesday.

Extract Source: The Australian Financial Review