Tethyan Placement to Raise up to $9.5m Tethyan Copper Company...

Tethyan Placement to Raise up to $9.5m




Tethyan Copper Company Ltd is currently completing a placement of up to 16.379 million ordinary shares at a price of $0.58 per share to raise up to $9.5 million (before costs) from local and overseas institutional and sophisticated investors.

The company will undertake a Share Purchase Plan, aimed at giving all existing Australian shareholders the opportunity to participate in the capital raising at the same share price.

Tethyan last raised funds in its float in October 2003, at which time $15 million was raised at a price of $0.30 per share. Since that time the company has advanced its H4 Copper Project through to the latter stages of a bankable feasibility study, has completed over 26,800 metres of exploration and resource drilling, 2,500 line kilometres of geophysical surveys, has outlined numerous additional porphyry targets, and has discovered a new mineralised intrusive complex at Sor Baroot.

The current capital raising is intended to provide funds for two significant opportunities:
· To fast-track the completion of the H4 bankable feasibility study, and most particularly the transition from completion of BFS to start of construction;
· To accelerate the recently announced programme of resource drilling, aimed at lifting the company’s total resource base to over 1 billion tonnes, in order to position the company for the development of its second stage project – the construction of a world-class copper-gold mine at Reko Diq.

The Placement is expected to provide an estimated $9.5 million, before costs estimated at $380,000. None of Tethyan’s directors nor their associates will take part in the Placement. The amount placed is the maximum allowable under Listing Rule 7.1 without seeking shareholder approval, being 15% of Tethyan’s issued share capital. Once issued the shares will rank pari passu with existing ordinary shares on issue.

David Moore, Tethyan Managing Director, said: “The company is also pleased to provide all Australian shareholders with the opportunity to participate in the fund raising via a Share Purchase Plan (SPP). The non-renounceable SPP will be capped at $4 million and is not underwritten.”

“The SPP will enable all Australian holders of ordinary shares at the record date, which is 30 March 2005, to purchase up to $5,000 worth of Shares in Tethyan at an issue price of $0.58 per share with no associated brokerage costs. This represents a discount of approximately 5% to the last trading price for shares in Tethyan on 16 March 2005, and a discount of approximately 10% to the average closing price of Tethyan’s shares for the 5 trading days up to 16 March 2005.”

- 22 Mar 2005