$50m placement to accelerate Mbalam project

International iron ore company, Sundance Resources has completed a $50m share ....

  International iron ore company, Sundance Resources has completed a $50m share placement, comprising 125 million shares at $0.40 cents per share, to facilitate the acceleration of the current resource drilling program and pre-feasibility study at the company’s 90%-owned Mbalam Iron Ore Project in Cameroon, West Africa.The share placement, which closed oversubscribed, was underpinned by Sundance’s largest shareholder, Talbot Group Holdings, and Western Australian-based investment group, the Sarich Group, each of which subscribed for $20m of shares. A further $10m of shares were placed with international and Australian-based institutional clients of Capital Investment Partners Pty Ltd, BBY Limited and Hartleys Limited.Following allotment of the shares issued under the placement, Sundance will have approximately 1.8 billion shares on issue.The proceeds of the share placement will increase Sundance’s available cash reserves to approximately $73m, providing a very strong platform to expand the recently commenced exploration activities at the Mbalam project.Sundance’s Chairman, George Jones said the capital raising effectively repositioned the company as an internationally significant iron ore company. “It will enable us to strengthen our current development activities, which are focused on commencement of project operations in 2011,” Mr Jones said.“The placement secures strategic long-term investors who share our enthusiasm about the potential of Mbalam project to emerge as a very significant supplier of high-grade iron ore to world markets,” he said.Mr Jones said he had recently returned from a site visit to Mbalam with Sundance Managing Director, Don Lewis, and had been impressed by the progress to date on site, the quality and extent of the surface mineralisation over the Mbarga prospect and the strong commitment of the Government of Cameroon to expedite the development of our project.“It became clear from my visit that, for a project of world-class potential, we need to advance exploration more aggressively by committing additional resources, drilling capacity, personnel and expertise to the project,” he said.Sundance Managing Director and CEO, Don Lewis said the capital raising would ensure that the company was fully funded through to commencement of the Bankable Feasibility Study, while at the same time expanding existing resource definition drilling activities.The key objectives of Sundance’s 2007 exploration program are to define a JORC compliant Inferred Mineral Resource over the Mbarga Prospect and confirm the broader potential of the company’s exploration permit. This will lay the foundations for the Bankable Feasibility Study to be completed in 2008.