Antipa Minerals (ASX: AZY, Share Price: $0.031, Market Cap: $25m) maintains a first-class acreage position within the mineral-rich Telfer province of Western Australia – a fact reflected in the recent signing of an agreement with mining behemoth Rio Tinto Exploration, which allows for Rio to spend up to $60 million on Antipa’s Citadel gold and copper project within the Telfer region.
Antipa has advised that in excess of 99.5% of its listed 1 cent options were exercised by holders in advance of the 17 May expiration date. A total of 332,327,890 options were exercised, resulting in proceeds of $3,323,279. Underwriter Veritas Securities Limited will take up the modest shortfall.
Market Significance
Antipa’s share price has firmed spectacularly from a 12-month low of $0.004 to a recent high of $0.037. This is largely as a result of the recent Rio farm-in deal and anticipation surrounding exploration activity – both in terms of the JV and also work being sole-funded by Antipa, like Minyari. The JV with Rio is a major breakthrough for Antipa and reflects the underlying resource potential of the Citadel project, which lies just 75km north of Newcrest’s Telfer gold-copper-silver deposit. The upcoming drilling program at Minyari is of strong market interest, as the project is situated just 40km away from Telfer’s infrastructure.
Announcement Detail – Funds Raised from Option Exercise
Antipa has announced that in excess of 99.5% of its listed 1 cent options were exercised by the company’s optionholders in advance of the 17 May 2016 expiration date. A total of 332,327,890 options were exercised by holders resulting in proceeds of $3,323,279 being received by the company.
Pursuant to the Option Underwriting Agreement announced on 31 March 2016, Veritas Securities or its sub-underwriters will now take up the modest 1,267,311 shares that comprise the shortfall. The 99.5% take-up rate is an outstanding result and fully funds the company’s planned exploration activities.
Minyari Project Update
Antipa’s Minyari deposit Phase 1 RC drilling program will commence over the coming weeks and the funds raised from the option exercise will primarily be spent within the Minyari-WACA area.
The main program objectives are to investigate potential extensions to the limits of the current Minyari gold-copper mineralization, over a total strike length of approximately 450 metres from near-surface to vertical depths of up to 240 metres, whilst potentially identifying further regions of high-grade gold-copper mineralisation.
The Phase 1 Minyari RC program is expected to be completed during July, with final laboratory assays to be received within two months. The company will then review the results with the aim of carrying out follow-up activity necessary in order to potentially advance the project towards Scoping Study status. Antipa anticipates being able to announce the results of such a review and commence any Phase 2 exploration program activities during Q4 2016.
Summary
We introduced Antipa Minerals to our Portfolio around $0.024 during October 2015 – representing a current gain of 25%.
The company is already well advanced in terms of its exploration status, boasting a sizeable existing 1.6M gold-eq oz JORC-compliant resource. There’s little doubt the resource will continue to grow, so it now becomes a question of scale, grades, potential development economics. The Rio farm-in deal provides near-term funding certainty and also ensures active exploration, whilst the Minyari – WACA data review provides further growth potential.
With Minyari drilling commencing for the first time under Antipa’s control, investor interest should continue to build ahead of the commencement of work before the end of May. The recent option exercise boosts the company’s previous cash reserves of $1.4m by $3.3m to around $5.7m, providing confidence in terms of exploration budgeting. Accordingly, Antipa Minerals will remain held within our Portfolio.
