Finders secures financing for Wetar copper pilot plant

London Stock Exchange-listed mining firm Finders Resources Limited announced Wednesday that it has entered into agreements to raise a total of approximately A$15.8 million gross to be used for the construction of a heap leach pilot plant for the Wetar Copper Project, Maluku and additional working capital.

According to the company production from the pilot plant is expected to be around 5 tonnes per day from July 2008, as a precursor to full scale production of 20-25,000 tpa of cathode copper from mid 2009.

The current Wetar resource base of 248,000 tonnes of contained copper (9.8Mt @ 2.5% Cu) in two low strip ratio deposits supports an expected mine life of over 8 years at this production rate.

?However, Finders believes there is excellent exploration potential on Wetar Island to delineate further copper rich massive sulphide deposits and significantly expand the current resource base and mine life,? the company said.

The financing is in the form of a placement of 4 million shares at A$1.10 per share through Southern Cross Equities, and an agreement with Tennant Metals Pty Ltd (Tennant Metals), subject to formal documentation, whereby Tennant Metals and its associated shareholder, Meridian International Capital Limited (Meridian), will subscribe for US$5 million in shares at A$1.10 per share, and will also provide a secured loan facility of US$5 million, in return for the off-take rights for all copper production from the Wetar pilot plant, plus off-take rights for 10% of copper production from the planned full scale mining operation at Wetar.

Finders Executive Chairman Russell Fountain said : ?This financing represents a significant milestone for the Company in its move to producer status. The funds will enable us to complete fast track development of the Wetar Copper Project pilot plant, which will produce cash flows for the company from mid 2008, and also allow us to continue an aggressive exploration program at Ojolali, aimed at defining a start-up oxide gold resource.

Finders directors believe that the association with Tennant Metals will bring significant benefits to the company as we move to producer status and also welcome the continued strong support of Southern Cross Equities in this fund raising.? (denny)