Colombia top destination for junior mining financing

Junior explorers announced US$387mn in financing deals targeting Latin American assets in Q1, up from US$143mn in the previous quarter.
The companies – a mix of Canada, Australia and UK-based explorers – reported 37 new deals in the quarter, up from 22 in 4Q18.

The bulk of deals (30) were private placements, with the rest loans (2), convertible debentures (1), bought deals (1), rights offerings (1) and combinations of various types of financing (2).

Most deals were for gold assets, with Colombia and Ecuador the leading recipients. Only amounts over US$750,000 by companies without producing assets were included.

TOP RECIPIENTS

Colombian projects were the biggest target for cash, at US$210mn.
Financing comprised Continental Gold’s US$175mn (US$100mn streaming deal and US$75mn convertible debenture) package to advance the Buriticá gold project, plus Eco Oro’s US$35mn placement.

Part of the proceeds are earmarked for Eco Oro’s ongoing arbitration claim against Colombia relating to cancellation of the Angostura gold-silver project.

Ecuador was the target of five financings totaling around US$43mn, with Chile and Mexico are the destination for six deals each, totaling US$18mn and US$16.8mn, respectively.

Four were earmarked for Peru (US$10.6mn) and three for Guyana (US$9.8mn) and Argentina (US$33.2mn).

Guatemala, Brazil, Nicaragua and French Guiana were the target of one deal each, with the remaining four aimed at projects across various countries.

BIGGEST DEALS

Along with the Colombia financings, other significant deals include Lundin Gold’s US$35mn bought deal offering for its Fruta del Norte project in Ecuador, currently in construction.

Bluestone Resources raised Cdn$22.4mn (US$16.8mn) for its Cerro Blanco gold project in Guatemala in a private placement, with NGEx Resources securing Cdn$20mn, mainly for its Josemaría copper-gold asset in Argentina.

Also in Argentina, Patagonia Gold announced a US$15mn loan to fund its Calcatreu gold project, while Titan Minerals aims to raise A$20mn (US$14.2mn) in a placement.

Following a planned merger with Core Gold, the company will have gold assets in Ecuador and Peru.

BY METAL

Of the US$387mn total deal value, US$339mn is for gold assets, with copper projects attracting just US$29.5mn and around US$8mn for both lithium and silver properties.

The remainder was targeted at various metals across a number of projects.