Battle North seeks $55M to fund development, pay debt

Battle North Gold (TSX: BNAU; US-OTC: BNAUF) (previously Rubicon Minerals) is raising $55 million in an upsized bought deal (from $45 million previously) co-led by Cormark Securities and Stifel GMP for exploration and development work at the Bateman gold project in the Red Lake district of Ontario.

In addition, the proceeds may be used for working capital and repayment of the company’s $14.2-million loan with Sprott Private Resource Lending, which matures on Dec. 31, 2021.

The offering includes 27 million common shares, sold at $1.85 each, as well as 1.9 million flow-through shares, at $2.68 each, for gross proceeds of $55 million. The underwriters have the option to purchase up to an additional 3.2 million common shares and 279,855 flow-through shares for 30 days following the closing, which is expected around Aug. 27.

Earlier this month, Battle North released drill and chip sample results from the McFinley zone, 420 metres west of the F2 gold deposit at Bateman.

Notable intercepts include 1.6 metres of 7.36 grams gold per tonne; 0.2 metre of 191 grams gold per tonne; and 0.3 metre of 134 grams gold.

According to the company, the initial results suggest the potential to derive future incremental mill feed from the zone to supplement the production profile at Bateman.

Additional work is underway to better understand the mineralization at the McFinley zone. McFinley features a historic (non-NI 43-101 compliant) resource estimate of 303,000 tonnes grading 6.86 grams gold, which extends to a depth of 122 metres. The results from this area support the historical drill intercepts.

A feasibility study for the Bateman project is expected by year-end.

In the last 52 weeks, Battle North’s shares have traded in a range of 55¢ and $2.25 and at press time were changing hands for $1.84. The company has a $176-million market capitalization based on 96 million common shares outstanding.

— This article first appeared in our sister publication, the Canadian Mining Journal.