Katoro Gold to buy Ontario mining claims, raises £0.32m
By Josh White
Date: Monday 10 Feb 2025
(Sharecast News) - Katoro Gold announced on Monday that it has secured a conditional equity financing agreement of £0.3175m through the issue of 635 million new shares at 0.05p each, and conditionally agreed to acquire 31 Explore, which controls a portfolio of mining claims in Canada.
The AIM-traded firm said the fundraising remained subject to shareholder approval at an upcoming general meeting, where resolutions, including a change in the par value of its shares, would be put to a vote.
It said it had signed a heads of terms agreement to acquire 31 Explore, which controls a portfolio of mining claims in the province of Ontario.
The acquisition, contingent on completing the fundraising, would be completed through the issue of warrants rather than cash.
Katoro said it would issue 375 million warrants at 0.1p per share and a further 375 million at 0.15p, representing premiums of 100% and 200% to the placing price, respectively.
The vendors had agreed to a 12-month lock-in period for the warrants.
Katoro said the acquisition would expand its exposure to critical minerals in a top-tier mining jurisdiction.
The portfolio included claims prospective for lithium-bearing pegmatites and rare-earth elements.
It said the funds raised would support exploration of the newly-acquired assets, as well as accelerating work at its White Pine Uranium Project in Northwest Ontario.
Following the acquisition, 31 Explore's vendors would provide ongoing technical and operational support.
Katoro also announced the appointment of Patrick Cullen as its full-time chief executive officer, and the proposed appointment of James Tosh from 31 Explore as a non-executive director.
Additionally, 38 million new shares would be issued on the same terms as the placing to settle £19,000 in future fees.
"This expansion of Katoro's critical minerals exploration portfolio is a significant step forward on an exciting pathway," said chief executive officer Patrick Cullen.
"Ontario is a world-class mining jurisdiction, among the top 10 jurisdictions in the world for mineral exploration spending and well-positioned to be a global supplier of critical minerals.
"Katoro has prioritised six project areas prospective for lithium and one project area prospective for rare earth elements (REE) and niobium and the location of these projects provides excellent synergy with our 100%-owned White Pine Uranium Project."
Cullen described the acquisition, in exchange solely for premium priced warrants, as a "very positive outcome", eliminating the immediate cash outlay or immediate share dilution typical of such transactions and enabling a greater allocation of cash towards advancing the company's exploration goals.
"The selection of these properties is the result of focused research by 31 Explore, and the prospectivity is underpinned by the systematic evaluation of an extensive range of Ontario Geological Survey data and mapping and other sources.
"Historic exploration activity provides other encouraging information, however, it is important to note that these areas are historically underexplored for the critical mineral deposits we are searching for.
"Looking to the future, the company is also in discussions with Planetary AI, a company that specialises in the application of the artificial intelligence-driven Xplore system, to identify and rank exploration targets."
At 1109 GMT, shares in Katoro Gold were up 9.26% at 0.05p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
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