Mordashov increases stake in Silver Bear to 25%, buys shares for $2.75 mln
MOSCOW. Aug 18 (Interfax) - Alexei Mordashov's Aterra investment fund increased its stake to 25% in Canada's Silver Bear, which specializes in the development of silver projects in Russia, Silver Bear said in a statement.
During the additional share issue of the mining company, Mordashov's company bought shares for 3 million Canadian dollars or $2.75 million. The day before, Aterra owned 24% of the company.
Inflection Management Corporation, whose beneficiary, Sergei Kolesnikov, is the president and co-owner of TekhnoNicol, also acquired a 25% in Silver Bear. As part of the first tranche of the share issue, Inflection bought 19.9% of Silver Bear, as part of the second tranche it increased its stake to 25%. The total investment in Silver Bear amounted to 7 million Canadian dollars or $6.4 million.
The placement price for shares in the additional share issue amounted to 0.17 Canadian dollars or $0.16 per share, while current quotations for Silver Bear on the Toronto Stock Exchange are 0.13 Canadian dollars or $0.12. In total, the charter capital of Silver Bear increased by more than 50%.
"The company intends to use the gross proceeds [about $10 million] of the offering to finance the further development of the Mangazeisky project towards production and for general working capital purposes," the statement said. The Mangazeiskoye silver field is located in Yakutia. This is Silver Bear's main asset. Total expenditures for the development of Mangazeisky project is estimated at $83.5 million +/- 30%, the company said in preliminary economic estimates in a report on the project. In particular, at the beginning stage of the project, before the start of production, expenses are estimated at $32.35 million.
On average, Silver Bear can produce 1.748 million ounces of silver a year at Mangazeiskoye field, in the first five years - 2.687 million ounces a year. The project's internal rate of return (IRR) is expected at a level of 63%, in the pessimistic forecast of silver prices at $20 an ounce. The life of the mine is 19 years, open-pit mining is possible for 10 years.