Asiamet obtains commitment from investors to fund BKM project

By Romel S. Gurky

TSX-listed Asiamet Resources Limited said that through clients of Optiva Securities Limited and existing shareholders, including certain insiders, the company has received commitments to purchase 86,956,521 common shares at a price of ?0.023 per share for total gross proceeds of approximately ?2 million (approximately equivalent to CDN$ 3.4 million at CDN $0.04 per share). The offering is a brokered private placement and the common shares will be issued and settled in CREST.

"Over the past 18 months very significant progress has been made in de-risking the Asiamet assets and advancing the company from pure explorer to potential developer status. Supported by the excellent technical results received to date, our highly experienced team are well positioned to deliver the feasibility study for our flagship BKM (Beruang Kanan Main) project in 2017,? said Asiamet Resources CEO, Tony Manini in a statement Tuesday, referring to its copper project in Central Kalimantan.

Manini said that globally there are very few listed junior companies with a high quality development-ready copper project at a time when the copper market is widely predicted to move into a structural supply deficit over the next 2-3 years. By advancing the BKM feasibility study through the development curve using the proceeds of the placement, Asiamet will be very well positioned to take advantage of the forecast increase in copper prices associated with this predicted supply deficit, and a rising level of investor and strategic interest in gaining exposure to copper producers and developers.

?As copper prices have begun to lift from their cyclical low point, we have already seen much higher levels of inbound interest in our company and projects from a variety of institutional investors, private equity groups, copper traders and end users, and other mining companies. Asiamet is now in a solid financial position to continue de-risking the BKM project and advancing options for funding the project and company through its next stage of development,? he explained.

Many of Asiamet's loyal and highly supportive shareholders have added to their investment in the company, and Asiamet has also introduced several new sophisticated investors with a strong understanding of the mining development cycle and the significant value that can be attained from investing at this crucial stage of the development curve, Manini said.

The placement shares will be fully paid and will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing common shares in the Company. Application has been made for the placement shares to be admitted to trading on AIM (Admission) and to be listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. It is expected that Admission will become effective and that dealings in the placement shares will commence on or around December 20, 2016. The total number of common shares in issue following completion of the placement will be 709,940,689.

The private placement is subject to compliance with applicable securities laws and to the receipt of regulatory approval. The company will pay broker fees in connection with the private placement in accordance with the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The private placement will not be conducted in North America and the shares placed will be settled through CREST.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak