Finders raises A$12m for Wetar Copper Project

By Romel S. Gurky

ASX-listed Finders Resources Limited announced Thursday the placement of 100 million fully paid ordinary shares at 12 cents each to raise A$12 million to advance its Wetar Copper Project in Indonesia.

The company said in a statement that the placement, which was well supported by existing shareholders and new institutional and sophisticated investors will be applied towards:
? Drilling out the existing resources at the Lerokis deposit and identified target at Meron;
? Development of other targets on Wetar island, including Karkopang, Kali Basar and Baru Manu targeting increased mine life;
? Feasibility assessment of an acid plant and gold and silver production in the baryte sands and in massive sulphide ore;
? Increasing Finders? project interest;
? The restructuring of the existing project debt facility to reflect the closure of hedges and revised cash flows for the project after attaining steady state production levels, including prepayment of some of the project debt facility; and
? Working capital.

Finders said the placement shares will be issued via an unconditional single tranche under the company?s existing placement capacity pursuant to ASX Listing Rule 7.1.

Finders managing director, Barry Cahill said ?The company was keen to move on to targeted investments to increase mine life and project value. The focus has been on attaining steady state production at rated plant capacity and debt reduction through operating cashflow and the closing out of our hedge book. Now there will be a number of initiatives in place to release the full potential of this low‐cost copper cathode production project by increasing mine life and revenue streams.

The placement was managed by Euroz Securities Limited.

Finders is the operator of the Wetar Copper Project (72% interest) located on Wetar Island in eastern Indonesia.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak