Landmark $12.9m raising for Focus

  WA-based gold and nickel company, Focus Minerals has announced the successful completion of its $12.9m capital rising, following a very strong investor and shareholder response to the company’s two-stage Share Placement and Share Purchase Plan (SPP). Focus has now received the proceeds of both the Share Placement and SPP.The landmark raising underpins Focus’ plans to accelerate its transition to production of both gold and nickel from its extensive landholdings in the historic and acclaimed Coolgardie region of the Western Australian Goldfields.Focus shareholders last week approved the two-stage raising, comprising the placement of 250 million shares at 4.3c per share to sophisticated Australian and international investors, to raise $10.75m, and a heavily oversubscribed $2.15m SPP of 50 million shares at 4.3c per share to existing shareholders. Following allotment of the shares issued via the combined SPP and placement, Focus will have a total of 771 million shares on issue.Focus Minerals’ Managing Director, Peter Williams said the strong response to the capital raising underscored the level of support for the company’s plans to become a significant producer of both nickel and gold from the Coolgardie region. “This is an opportune time to be moving into production and developing our projects further into long-term operations,” Mr Williams said. “We are grateful for the solid, ongoing support from our existing shareholders and welcome a number of new institutional and retail shareholders who have joined our register.” According to Mr Williams, Focus is on schedule to commence gold mining as early as December 2007 from the 210sqkm Coolgardie Gold Project, held in the 50:50 Redemption Joint Venture (RJV), with Canadian-based Committee Bay Resources.With Focus as operator, the RJV has committed a further $8m to exploration and development work to be completed throughout the Coolgardie Gold Project during the 2007 calendar year.