"Successful financing raised C$3.5M"
LONDON, July 15, 2020 /CNW/ - Meridian Mining SE
(TSXV: MNO) ("Meridian" or the "Company") is pleased to announce
that it has closed its previously announced non-brokered private
placement1 of 46,766,666 units (the "Units")
at a price of C$0.075 per Unit, for
gross proceeds of C$3,507,499.95
(the "Placement"). The Units consist of a common share
(each a "Common Share") and a non–transferable common share
purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"). Each Warrant will
entitle the holder to purchase one additional Common Share for a
period of 24 months from closing at a price of C$0.11.
Proceeds from the Units will be used for advancing the Espigão
copper gold polymetallic advanced exploration project, exploration
and resource manganese delineation programs at Mirante da Serra and
general working capital. All securities issued in connection with
the Placement, including any Common Shares issued upon exercise of
the Warrants, are subject to a four month restricted resale period
that expires on November 16,
2020.
A finder's fee was paid in connection with the Placement to
finders that include Haywood Securities Inc., and LHC Mine Finance
Ltd (London) (collectively the
"Finders"), that consisted of cash fees in the aggregate
amount of C$115,279.50. These fees
were based on the number of Units sold to investors introduced by
Finders (83.67% of the total equity raised). In addition, a total
of 1,962,060 broker warrants have been issued to certain Finders.
The terms of the broker warrants are identical to the terms of the
Warrants.
With the closing of the Placement the agreements2
related to the conversion of debt and surrender of equity by
Sentient Global Resource Fund IV L.P. ("Fund IV") and the
conversion of a loan with The Sentient Group ("TSG") will
now be completed. The Company also wishes to announce that it
has received TSX Venture Exchange conditional acceptance for the
conversion of the TSG debt at a price of C$0.30.
Pursuant to the debt conversion agreements, the Company will
issue 5,958,540 Common Shares to Fund IV and 5,910,602 Common
Shares to TSG. In addition, Fund IV has agreed to surrender
141,011,304 Common Shares to the Company to reduce its shareholding
interest in the Company to less than 10% of the issued and
outstanding Common Shares on an undiluted basis.
The strong interest from new sophisticated investors, both local
and international and the uptake by many of the existing
shareholders has meant that the Placement was fully subscribed and
quickly achieved. This triggers important conditions within
existing agreements that will have a material benefit to the
Company's balance sheet and capital table. The now accepted
conversion price of the TSG loan of C$0.30 per common share is a 400% premium to the
capital raise pricing of C$0.075 per
Unit. Over the coming days the procedure for the Fund IV share
surrender and issuance of the Placement's Units will be
co-ordinated so that it occurs sequentially. Insiders of Meridian,
including Gilbert Clark,
Charles Riopel and Adrian McArthur, Directors and/or Officers of
Meridian, have participated in the Placement.
Certain officers and directors of the Company participated in
the Placement, which constitutes a "related party transaction" for
purposes of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of
Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI
61-101"). Such participation is exempt from the valuation and
minority approval requirements of MI 61-101 by virtue of the fact
that the Company is not listed on a specified market set out in
section 5.5(b) of MI 61-101 and the value of Units subscribed for
by such officers and directors is less than C$2,500,000 in accordance with the requirements
of section 5.7(b) of MI 61-101.
Mr Clark, Interim CEO & President, states, "By raising
C$3.5M in new funds, Meridian was
able to provided notice to both Fund IV and TSG that the conditions
precedent of the May 11 and
June 18, 2020 agreements and
amendments have been met. The Company wishes to thank both Fund IV
and TSG for their historical professional and financial support and
their agreements to re–launch Meridian with a cleaned balance sheet
and streamlined capital table. For the new and existing
shareholders it is an exciting time as with the close of this
capital raise and via the Fund IV share surrender, these
shareholders' common shares will have an immediate higher ownership
percentage in the Company than they previously held and at the same
time be part of a company that is well financed and with an
exciting portfolio of resource development and exploration projects
in Brazil. After the closing of
the capital raise, I will be transitioning away from my role as the
Interim CEO and Dr. Adrian McArthur
will assume the full CEO role. I will remain with Meridian as a
Director and as the Chair of the Corporate Development &
Technical Committee knowing that the Company is in Adrian's secure
leadership."
1 See
Meridian news releases: May 15th and June
18th, 2020
|
2 See
Meridian news releases: April 27th and 28th,
2020
|
On behalf of the Board of Directors of Meridian Mining SE
Gilbert Clark
Interim CEO, President and Director
Meridian Mining S.E.
Ph: +1 778-715-6410 (PST)
ABOUT MERIDIAN
Meridian Mining SE is focused on the acquisition, exploration,
development and mining activities in Brazil. The Company is currently focused on
exploring and developing the Espigão copper gold polymetallic
project, the Mirante da Serra manganese project and maintaining the
Ariquemes tin exploration portfolio in the state of Rondônia,
Brazil.
Further information can be found at www.meridianmining.co.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Some statements in this presentation contain forward-looking
information or forward-looking statements for the purposes of
applicable securities laws. These statements include, among
others, statements with respect to the Company's plans for
exploration, development and exploitation of its properties and
potential mineralisation. These statements address future
events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown
risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual
results, performance or achievements to be materially different
from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by the statements. Such risk factors include, among others,
failure to obtain regulatory approvals, failure to complete
anticipated transactions, the timing and success of future
exploration and development activities, exploration and development
risks, title matters, inability to obtain any required third party
consents, operating risks and hazards, metal prices, political and
economic factors, competitive factors, general economic conditions,
relationships with strategic partners, governmental regulation and
supervision, seasonality, technological change, industry practices
and one-time events. In making the forward-looking
statements, the Company has applied several material assumptions
including, but not limited to, the assumptions that: (1) the
proposed exploration, development and exploitation of mineral
projects will proceed as planned; (2) market fundamentals will
result in sustained metals and minerals prices and (3) any
additional financing needed will be available on reasonable
terms. The Company expressly disclaims any intention or
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise
except as otherwise required by applicable securities
legislation.
The Company cautions that it has not completed any feasibility
studies on any of its mineral properties, and no mineral reserve
estimate or mineral resource estimate has been established.
In particular, because the Company's production decision relating
to Meridian Mineração Jaburi S.A, manganese project is not based
upon a feasibility study of mineral reserves, the economic and
technical viability of the Espigão manganese project has not been
established.
The TSX Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved
the contents of this news release. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor
its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for
the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
SOURCE Meridian Mining S.E.