AUD$12 Million Funding to Propel Growth Strategy
Melbourne, Sep 27, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Nova Minerals Limited (
ASX:NVA) (QM3:FRA) (NVAAF:OTCMKTS) is pleased to advise that the Company has received firm commitments to raise up to $12 million (before costs) ("Placement"). Evolution Capital Advisors acted as Lead Manager to the Placement.
Net proceeds of the offering will be used to ramp up development and resource growth as we continue on our path towards gold production whilst further unlocking the Estelle Gold District.
- Strong interest from institutional and sophisticated investors priced at 15.4% discount to 30-day VWAP
- Scaled down $12 million raising will add cash on hand and will be used to ramp up ongoing drilling programs with additional rigs in order to expedite Nova's 4.7Moz Korbel Deposit to PFS, continue resource development at RPM, as well as generate drill targets to advance numerous other prospects across the Estelle Gold District. Aggressive Infill and Extension drilling is ongoing at Korbel Main which is currently focused on the high grade SE feeder zone with the goal of substantially increasing the 4.7Moz Resource (ASX 7 April 2021, Table 1) and upgrading the resource in size and confidence to expedite Project Feasibility Studies.
- RPM remains on track for a Maiden Resource by late 2021 with initial results now in fire assay stage at the lab
- 4.7Moz Korbel Main remains on track for a Resource update by late 2021
- Snow Lake Resources (majority owned lithium company) status update due shortly
- The mineralisation remains open along strike to the North West and South East with a predicted strike length of over 3km of continuous gold mineralisation
- Assay results pending for over 10,000m of drilling from both Korbel Main and RPM
- Proceeds of Placement to fund:
o Ongoing extension and definition drilling of the current 4.7Moz Korbel Main gold deposit
o Continuous drilling to expand the global resource inventory at Korbel Main throughout 2021 across the Korbel Valley (Block A and Block B), Block B South-Eastern extension, Blocks C and D, Cathedral, You Beauty, Isabella and Sweet Jenny
o Further Resource Development drilling at RPM with a Maiden Resource expected in 2021
o Regional exploration of advanced targets to unlock the wider Estelle Gold District
o Completion of the re-optimised scoping study on latest material drill results and early-stage project de-risking environmental studies leading to fast track the commencement of the PFS.
NVA CEO, Mr. Christopher Gerteisen commented: "During 2021, Nova's intent and strategy is to continue on its aggressive and systematic resource development approach by focusing on increasing the current 4.7Moz resource at Korbel both in size and confidence, simultaneously progressing studies on Korbel to advance the project towards feasibility stage, whilst unlocking the wider Estelle Gold District. Additionally, the first phase of drilling at RPM is now complete and assays are pending with a Maiden resource to follow later this year.
This capital raising came about due to interest from institutional investors, and the need to strike a delicate balance between finding the least dilutionary funding option, whilst ensuring the Company has sufficient capital to take it through to the next stage of its development. The company has multiple funding mandates and offers and this was the quickest and cleanest presented to us. As the market is aware, exploration is capital intensive, and we do not want to slow our momentum at the Estelle gold district. We will be drilling through the winter, and we have ramped up our test work, conducting environmental and metallurgical studies at PFS level, in line with our strategy to fast-track the Korbel Main deposit towards production whilst unlocking the greater Estelle Gold district. We believe that a minor dilutionary effect is far outweighed by the financial security this capital brings in guaranteeing continued exploration and development at Estelle unabated, from a risk management perspective.
Quarter 4 is anticipated to be a transformational period for Nova and its shareholders. We are excited to secure this support from quality investors at this stage in the Company's development. Our company's strategy moving forward also involves unlocking value in the world class Thompson Brothers Lithium Project in Canada.
Nova now holds enough cash and cash equivalents to take the Company to feasibility studies with access to additional funding facilities to ultimately take us to a decision to mine and construction. This puts the Company in an extremely strong position to achieve our goal of progressing the Tier 1 Gold asset at Korbel Main to production whilst simultaneously unlocking the greater Estelle Gold District, as we have demonstrated over the last week.
In addition, our majority owned Snow Lake Resources is fast progressing, and we will provide further information at the appropriate time. Furthermore, our RotorX investment is shaping up to add significant value for Nova. RotorX is currently a cash generating business with a solid team of engineers to fast track their eVTOL roll out.
We are truly just getting started at Nova and exciting times lie ahead for our shareholders."
Use of Funds and Funding
The Company currently has three diamond rigs and one RC rig on site at Korbel and RPM. The new funds will allow extension and definition drilling to ramp up at the 4.7Moz Korbel Main prospect with an additional drill to be added shortly.
The Korbel Main system remains open along strike and at depth (Figure1), with multiple rigs currently testing extensional targets going out North-West toward Isabella and the South-East extension feeder system, as well as infill drilling for data density for a higher category resource upgrade. As the recent field works at Korbel Main (Block A and Block B), Block B South-East Extension, Blocks C and D, Cathedral, You Beauty, Isabella and Sweet Jenny show, considerable scope exists in the immediate boundaries of the Korbel Prospect to further add to the deposit and the mineralisation footprint in the near term.
The opportunity at the Estelle Gold Project continues to be a significant focus for the Company. Nova will allocate more resources to continue to advance resource development at the RPM deposit, as well as the recently discovered. Beyond the Korbel Main, the Greater Korbel valley area and RPM, there are several additional discoveries throughout our 324km2 contiguous land position, eg. Stoney Au-Ag-Cu prospect and the Train Au prospect areas, outlining a 30km mineralised strike that we have yet to drill test (Figure 2). There are further large, highly prospective areas and anomalous zones which require further recon exploration work to advance as well.
Funding will be allocated to a range of additional areas, including:
- Resource expansion and definition drilling on the 4.7Moz Korbel Main Gold Deposit (Table 1*) to increase tonnages and resources categories.
- Drill testing the remainder of the Korbel Valley (Block A and Block B), Block B South-East Extension, Blocks C and D, Cathedral, You Beauty, Isabella and Sweet Jenny
- Further RPM Drilling and regional exploration of advanced targets to unlock the wider Estelle Gold district;
- Scoping Study, to be completed post the 4.7Moz Korbel Main Gold Deposit to increase tonnages and resources categories and the PFS to commence for Korbel Main, immediately afterwards;
- Further early-stage project de-risking studies to fast track permitting and approvals which includes but not limited to environmental, social and economic assessments;
- Improvements to site infrastructure including sample processing, accommodation, access, and communications to bring exploration costs down further;
- General working capital.
On-going resource growth & discovery drilling, Metallurgical Testing, Updated Resource Estimate & PFS and ESG Studies - $10m.
General working capital & costs of the Offer - $2.0m.
TOTAL $12.0m
A total of A$12 million before costs was raised through the issue of 109,090,910 ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.11 per share. The Placement was priced at 15.4% discount to 30-day VWAP.
Evolution Capital Advisors acted as Lead Manager to the Placement.
New shares issued under the Placement will rank equally with the Company's existing ordinary shares on issue. The Placement will take place as a single tranche and will be undertaken using the Company's available Listing Rule 7.1 capacity and will not require shareholder approval.
Settlement of the Placement shares is anticipated to occur on or about Wednesday 6 October 2021 and quotation on the ASX on Thursday 7 October 2021.
*To view tables and figures, please visit:
https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/C958U5KV
About Nova Minerals Limited
Nova Minerals Limited's (ASX:NVA) (FRA:QM3) (OTCMKTS:NVAAF) vision is to develop North America's next major gold trend. The company is focused on exploration in Alaska's prolific Tintina Gold Belt, a province which hosts a 220 million ounce (Moz) documented gold endowment and some of the world's largest gold mines and discoveries including Victoria Gold's Eagle Mine and Kinross Gold Corporation's Fort Knox Gold Mine. The company's flagship Estelle Project has a current total estimated JORC gold resource of 9.6Moz (3Moz Indicated and 6.6Moz Inferred). Estelle is a 45km long string of 15 identified gold prospects bracketed by the Korbel deposit in the north and the RPM deposit in the south. These two deposits are currently host to extensive exploration programs.
Additionally, Nova has an indirect interest in the Canadian Thompson Brothers Lithium Project through a substantial stake in Snow Lake Resources Ltd (NASDAQ:LITM) and holds a 12.99% interest in Torian Resources Limited (ASX:TNR), a gold exploration company based in Western Australia.
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