Nautilus shares sold
The National, Friday 14th June 2013
NAUTILUS Minerals announced on Wednesday that it has completed a C$40 million (K82.6 million) rights offering at C$0.20 per share through issuance of 200 million shares.
The offering was fully backstopped by MB Holding Company LLC, a major shareholder in Nautilus.
MB Holding received a consideration fee of C$2 million for backstopping the deal.
Roughly 75% of the total shares offered were subscribed to by current shareholders.
Chief executive officer Mike Johnston said in a statement that it was encouraging to see such level of support from Nautilus’s existing shareholders,” he said.
“It is very encouraging to see such a high level of support for the company from its existing shareholders.
Nautilus is exploring the ocean seafloor off the coast of Papua New Guinea for polymetallic massive sulphide deposits.
The company’s main asset is the Solwara 1 Project, where the updated 2011 National Instrument (NI) 43-101 resource estimate outlined an indicated mineral resource of 1.03 million tonnes grading 7.2% copper, 5 g/t gold, 23 g/t silver and 0.4% zinc.
The company has been entrenched in an ownership dispute with the government of Papua New Guinea since 2012 and the outcome remains unclear.
A hearing date for arbitration has been set for Aug 23.
Proceeds from the financing will be used to continue funding key corporate contracts related to seafloor production tools while the company works to settle the outstanding litigation with Papua New Guinea.
Nautilus shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) under the ticker symbol NUS. With completion of the rights offer, the company now has 436 million shares outstanding.
The stock closed the trading session at C$0.25 per share and has traded between C$0.20 and C$1.65 over the past 52-week period. – Junior Mining Network