Canadian gold exploration and development company Osino Resources Corporation has raised C$5 million (about N$70 million) for the development of the Twin Hills gold project in central Namibia through the issue of common shares to Dundee Precious Metals Inc.
Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) is a Canadian-based international gold mining company with operations and projects located in Bulgaria, Namibia, Ecuador and Serbia.
In Namibia, the company has also operated a smelter at Tsumeb.
According to a statement issued by Osino president and chief executive Heye Daun on 22 December, the mining company issued 4 424 779 common shares to DPM at a price of C$1,13 per common share for aggregate gross proceeds to Osino.
"The initial tranche of the offering was completed in connection with the arrangement agreement dated 17 December 2023 between Osino and DPM, whereby DPM will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Osino pursuant to a court-approved plan of arrangement," the statement reads.
After giving effect to the initial tranche of the offering, DPM holds an aggregate of 8 235 379 common shares, representing approximately 4,9% of the common shares issued and outstanding on the date thereof on a non-diluted basis, the statement says.
"The net proceeds of the offering will be used for project activities, including engineering, drilling and other corporate purposes in accordance with Osino's budget as agreed with DPM," Daun says.
Since its grassroots discovery of Twin Hills in August 2019, Osino has completed more than 225 000m of drilling and has completed a suite of specialist technical studies culminating in the recently published Twin Hills Definitive Feasibility Study dated effective 12 June last year.
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The study describes a technically simple and economically robust open-pit gold operation with a 13-year mine life and average annual gold production of over 169 000oz per annum.
David Rae, the president and chief executive of Dundee Precious Metals, made the following comments in relation to the Osino acquisition.
"Twin Hills represents a unique opportunity to add a high-quality development asset in an excellent mining jurisdiction to our portfolio.
"The project provides a foundation for our future production profile with production targeted for 2026, as well as significant exploration upside.
"This transaction also allows us to leverage our strong local relationships in Namibia, which we have built over many years, and continue our focus on growing our portfolio of gold assets.
"With Twin Hills and CˇokaRakita, DPM will have an extremely attractive growth pipeline and the financial capacity to fund it internally through our existing cash balance and free cash flow.
"The Osino team has done an excellent job in discovering and progressing Twin Hills to this point.
"We are excited to advance the project and build on their efforts to unlock further value for all of our stakeholders," he says.
- email: matthew@namibian.com.na
