Polymetals Resources (ASX: POL) makes its ASX debut today, with gold drilling set to commence this week at one of its exploration blocks in Guinea.
The West Africa-focused explorer today begins trading on the ASX after successfully raising $5.2 million through the issue of 26 million new shares at $0.20 each in its initial public offer (IPO), giving it a market cap of $15.9 million.
The company is focused on exploring its two 100% owned licences within Guinea’s gold-rich Siguiri Basin: Alahiné (64sq km) and Mansala (48sq km).
Polymetals chief executive officer Alex Hanly also confirmed that a 5,000m reverse circulation drilling program is planned to commence today at Alahiné.
The program will follow up soil gold anomalies and mineralised drill intercepts defined by the company’s previous exploration, including soil sampling results in excess of 40 parts per billion gold.
“The Polymetals licences are strategically positioned within Guinea’s underexplored Birimian Greenstone belt which holds substantial geological potential for the delineation of a large gold inventory,” he said.
“We believe our exciting Siguiri portfolio combined with our strong and practical team will deliver significant value to our shareholders,” Mr Hanly added.
A maiden drilling program is also being planned for the Mansala project.
Strongly supported IPO
According to the company, its IPO was supported by a “strong” mix of institutional, sophisticated and retail investors and resource-focused funds.
Polymetals chairman David Sproule indicated his faith in the company and the prospectivity of its licences by investing $1.5 million in the IPO. This builds on his previous personal direct cash investments into the group in excess of $1.5 million in the two years prior to listing.
Mr Sproule’s pre-IPO holding is escrowed for 24 months, and he has opted for a 12-month voluntary escrow on the IPO investment.
Resource definition strategy
Mr Hanly previously told Small Caps the company was attracted to the Siguiri Basin as a “prolific but significantly underexplored” goldfield.
In addition to its artisanal mining history, the region is home to AngloGold Ashanti’s (ASX: AGG) Siguiri gold mine which has operated for more than two decades.
Mr Hanly said Polymetals’ strategy is to explore targets across both of its projects and aim to define a significant gold resource over the next year.
“We’ll be deploying 70% of the capital raised [from the IPO] into the ground,” he said, noting that Alahiné will be the company’s main focus.
“I believe the Siguiri Basin hasn’t been fully unlocked yet and Polymetals is in a good position to put our best foot forward and deliver.”
“We have a very experienced team and a lot of our team members with skin in the game, so we’re very keen to see this be successful within the public arena,” Mr Hanly added.
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