Additional Kookaburra funds for Longshot Ridge project

Additional funding was recently secured by Kookaburra Gold (VSE) for feasibility work on the Longshot Ridge copper-oxide project in Nevada.

Kookaburra’s principal shareholder, Australia-based Xenolith Gold, agreed to sell two million of its Kookaburra shares to several Canadian mutual funds. Xenolith currently owns about 4.1 million shares of the company or about 63% of Kookaburra’s 6.4 million shares outstanding.

On completion of the sale, Xenolith will purchase a private placement from Kookaburra of two million units, each consisting of a share plus a warrant to purchase an additional share. Pricing for the placement will be based on the price Xenolith receives for its shares.

Kookaburra estimates the placement will provide about $1 million in working capital of which $400,000 will be used to fund a 4-month prefeasibility study on the Longshot Ridge project.

Based on previous work on the property, preliminary reserves are estimated at about 16.1 million tons grading 0.55% copper, with about 86% of it rating as acid-soluble.

The study will include an additional 7,500 ft. of reverse circulation drilling (totalling 34 holes) and column leach tests, as well as revised capital and operating cost estimates and financial analyses. Rennie Blair, president of Kookaburra, said the additional drilling should bring the reserve into a probable category.

The company expects to start the study in early September.