Top Australian capital raises seek to create mining value

Henry Lazenby | July 27, 2021 | 10:01 am Intelligence Australia Copper Gold Lithium Nickel Rare Earth Silver Uranium Zinc

Regis Resources’ 30%-owned Tropicana gold mine site. View of southern end of Havana Pit with 793F haulers and other large mining equipment. Photo courtesy of AngloGold Ashanti.

Australia-headquartered miners have been tapping the capital markets in the year to July 14 to raise a total of $2.33 billion in capital, according to an analysis by the Northern Miner’s sister company Mining Intelligence. The financings offer the companies firepower to execute their respective value creation strategies.

The Mining Intelligence data shows the money was raised via 36 rights offerings that attracted $1.15 billion in capital and 81 private placements raising $965.52 million, among other methods of capital raising.

Leading the lineup is Regis Resources (ASX: RRL), which raised about $155 million in April and another $348.5 million in May.

The company had in April bought a 30% stake in AngloGold Ashanti’s (NYSE: AU) Tropicana mine for A$903 million ($688.3 million), increasing its production base by a third.