/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE
SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED
STATES/
Second Tranche for Gross Proceeds of
$71M Expected to Close Following
Special Shareholders Meeting
All amounts are in Canadian dollars unless stated
otherwise
VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 8, 2024
/CNW/ - Foran Mining Corporation (TSX: FOM) (OTCQX: FMCXF)
("Foran" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has
completed the first tranche of its previously announced
$360 million private placement
financings (the "Offering"), for aggregate gross proceeds of
$289,052,853 (the "First Tranche
Offering").
The First Tranche Offering involved the completion of:
(a)
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a brokered private
placement (the "Brokered Offering"), pursuant to which the Company
issued a total of (i) 44,446,529 common shares of the Company (the
"Common Shares") at an issue price of $4.05 per Common Share, for
gross proceeds of $180,008,442; and (ii) 4,501,874 Common Shares,
each of which were issued as a "flow-through share" within the
meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "FT Shares"),
with 2,906,977 FT Shares issued at a price of $6.88 per share (the
"SK FT Shares") and 1,594,897 FT Shares issued at a price of $6.27
per share, for gross proceeds of $30,000,006; and
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(b)
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a non-brokered private
placement with Agnico Eagle Mines Limited ("Agnico Eagle") pursuant
to which the Company issued a total of 19,517,137 Common Shares at
an issue price of $4.05 per Common Share for gross proceeds of
$79,044,405.
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The Brokered Offering was conducted through a syndicate of
agents with Eight Capital, BMO Capital Markets and National Bank
Financial Inc. as co-lead agents and joint bookrunners, together
with Ventum Financial Corp., CIBC World Markets Inc., Cormark
Securities Inc., Scotia Capital Inc., Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc.
and TD Securities Inc. (collectively, the "Agents").
The net proceeds of the First Tranche Offering will be used for
exploration and development of the Company's mineral projects in
Saskatchewan, and for working
capital and general corporate purposes. The Company will use an
amount equal to the gross proceeds from the sale of the FT Shares,
pursuant to the provisions of the Income Tax Act
(Canada), to incur eligible
"Canadian exploration expenses" that qualify as "flow-through
critical mineral mining expenditures" as both terms are defined in
the Income Tax Act (Canada)
and in the case of the SK FT Shares to incur "eligible flow-through
mining expenditures" within the meaning of The Mineral
Exploration Tax Credit Regulations, 2014 (Saskatchewan) (the "Qualifying Expenditures")
related to the Company's mineral projects located in Saskatchewan, on or before December 31, 2025, and will renounce all of the
Qualifying Expenditures in favour of the subscribers of the FT
Shares with an effective date not later than December 31, 2024.
The First Tranche Offering remains subject to the final approval
of the TSX. The securities issued pursuant to the First Tranche
Offering shall be subject to a four-month plus one day hold period
commencing on the date hereof under applicable Canadian securities
laws. Following the completion of the First Tranche Offering,
Agnico Eagle holds a 9.1% interest in the Company on a basic voting
basis.
The securities being offered have not, nor will they be
registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for the account or
benefit of, U.S. persons in the absence of U.S. registration or an
applicable exemption from the U.S. registration requirements. This
release does not constitute an offer for sale of securities in
the United States.
Related Party Transaction
Certain controlled affiliates of Fairfax Financial Holdings
Limited ("Fairfax"), an insider of the Company, participated in the
First Tranche Offering, on a pro rata basis, acquiring an aggregate
of 10,307,910 Common Shares. The insider participation in the First
Tranche Offering constitutes a "related party transaction" within
the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of
Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI
61-101"), for which the Company was exempt from the formal
valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI
61-101 pursuant to sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) thereof, as
neither the fair market value of the securities issued to the
insider under the Offerings nor the consideration paid by the
insider exceeded 25% of the Company's market capitalization, in
each case as determined under MI 61‑101. The Company did not file a
material change report 21 days before closing of the First Tranche
Offering as the full details of the insider participation were not
known at that time.
Second Tranche Offering
The originally announced $360
million Offering on July 17,
2024 would result in the issuance of greater than 25% of the
Company's currently issued and outstanding Common Shares (the
"Dilution Limit") and as a result requires shareholder approval
under the rules of the TSX. Additionally, the level of
participation by certain controlled affiliates of Fairfax in the
second tranche of the Offering would result in those current
affiliates of Fairfax that are shareholders of the Company,
collectively exceeding their pro rata shareholdings (the "Pro Rata
Limit") in the Company. The TSX has agreed to permit such increased
level of participation if shareholder approval (excluding votes
held directly or indirectly by affiliates of Fairfax) is obtained.
As a result, the Company intends to hold a special meeting of
shareholders on September 16, 2024
(the "Shareholder Meeting") pursuant to which shareholder approval
will be sought to exceed the Dilution Limit and the Pro Rata Limit
in connection with completing the second tranche of the Offering
(the "Second Tranche Offering").
The Second Tranche Offering is intended to be completed
following the receipt of all requisite shareholder approval, and is
expected to consist of (a) a brokered private placement to be
conducted through the Agents for the issuance of 12,563,798 Common
Shares at an issue price of $4.05 per
Common Share for gross proceeds of $50,883,382, to be subscribed for by certain
controlled affiliates of Fairfax, and (b) a non-brokered private
placement to be completed with Agnico Eagle for the issuance of
4,954,915 Common Shares at an issue price of $4.05 per Common Share for gross proceeds of
$20,067,406. Following the completion
of the Second Tranche Offering, Agnico Eagle is expected to hold a
9.9% interest in the Company on a pro forma basic voting basis.
There is no assurance that the requisite shareholder approval
will be obtained or that the Second Tranche Offering will be
completed. The management information circular related to the
Shareholder Meeting will be filed under the Company's profile on
SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca once available and readers are referred
to full details to be contained therein.
About Foran Mining
Foran Mining is a copper-zinc-gold-silver exploration and
development company, committed to supporting a greener future,
empowering communities and creating circular economies which create
value for all our stakeholders, while also safeguarding the
environment. The McIlvenna Bay Project is located entirely
within the documented traditional territory of the Peter Ballantyne
Cree Nation, comprises the infrastructure and works related to
pre-development and advanced exploration activities of the Company,
and hosts the McIlvenna Bay Deposit and Tesla Zone. The Company
also owns the Bigstone Deposit, a resource-development stage
deposit located 25 km southwest of the McIlvenna Bay Property.
The McIlvenna Bay Deposit is a copper-zinc-gold-silver rich VHMS
deposit intended to be the centre of a new mining camp in a
prolific district that has already been producing for 100 years.
The McIlvenna Bay Property sits just 65 km West of Flin Flon, Manitoba, and is part of the world
class Flin Flon Greenstone Belt that extends from Snow Lake, Manitoba, through Flin Flon to Foran's ground in eastern
Saskatchewan, a distance of over
225 km.
The McIlvenna Bay Deposit is the largest undeveloped VHMS
deposit in the region. The Company announced the results from its
NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report on the 2022 Feasibility Study
for the McIlvenna Bay Deposit ("2022 Feasibility Study") on
February 28, 2022, outlining that
current Mineral Reserves would potentially support an 18-year mine
life producing an average of 65 million pounds of copper equivalent
annually. The Company filed the 2022 Feasibility Study on
April 14, 2022, with an effective
date of February 28, 2022. The
Company also filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Bigstone
Deposit resource estimate on January 21,
2021, as amended on February 1,
2022. Investors are encouraged to consult the full text of
these technical reports which may be found on the Company's profile
on www.sedarplus.ca.
The Company's head office is located at 409 Granville Street,
Suite 904, Vancouver, BC,
Canada, V6C 1T2. Common Shares of
the Company are listed for trading on the TSX under the symbol
"FOM" and on the OTCQX under the symbol "FMCXF".
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain forward-looking information
and forward-looking statements, as defined under applicable
securities laws (collectively referred to herein as
"forward-looking statements"). These statements relate to future
events or to the future performance of Foran Mining Corporation and
reflect management's expectations and assumptions as of the date
hereof or as of the date of such forward looking statement. All
statements other than statements of historical fact are
forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking
statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans",
"expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
"continues", "forecasts", "projects", "predicts", "potentially",
"intends", "likely", "anticipates" or "believes", or variations of,
or the negatives of, such words and phrases, or state that certain
actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should",
"might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Such
forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to,
statements regarding our objectives and our strategies to achieve
such objectives; our beliefs, plans, estimates, projections and
intentions, and similar statements concerning anticipated future
events; as well as specific statements in respect of our intended
use of proceeds from the First Tranche Offering; the TSX providing
final approval for the First Tranche Offering; the terms and
conditions and anticipated timing for completion of the Second
Tranche Offering, including our ability to obtain the requisite
shareholder approvals at the Shareholder Meeting to exceed the
Dilution Limit and the Pro Rata Limit, and receive other regulatory
approvals including final TSX approval; our expectation that the
Second Tranche Offering will be successfully completed; the
participation of certain controlled affiliates of Fairfax and
Agnico Eagle in closing of the Second Tranche Offering and their
expected shareholdings in the Company post-completion; our
commitment to support a greener future, empower communities and
create circular economies which create value for all our
stakeholders while safeguarding the environment; expectations
regarding our development and advanced exploration activities; and
expectations, assumptions and targets in respect of our 2022
Feasibility Study. The forward-looking statements in this news
release speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the
date specified in such statement.
Inherent in forward-looking statements are known and unknown
risks, estimates, assumptions, uncertainties and other factors that
may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the
Company to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements contained in this news release. These
factors include, but are not limited to, management's belief or
expectations relating to the following and, in certain cases,
management's response with regard to the following: the certainty
of funding, including that the Second Tranche Offering will be
completed on the terms and conditions and in line with anticipated
timing disclosed herein; the Company's reliance on
the McIlvenna Bay Property; the Company's statements about the
expected productive capacity and other technical estimates on its
projects, and the Company's reliance on technical experts with
respect thereto; government, securities, and stock exchange
regulation and policy; the Company has a history of losses and may
not be able to generate sufficient revenue to be profitable or to
generate positive cash flow on a sustained basis; the Company is
exposed to risks related to mineral resources exploration and
development; failure to comply with covenants under the Senior
Credit Facility or the Equipment Finance Facility may have a
material adverse impact on the Company's operations and financial
condition; the Company may require additional financing and future
share issuances may adversely impact share prices; the Company is
subject to government regulation and failure to comply could have
an adverse effect on the Company's operations; interest rates risk;
market and liquidity risk; and the additional risks identified in
our filings with Canadian securities regulators on SEDAR+ in
Canada (available at
www.sedarplus.ca). Although the Company has attempted to identify
important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be
as anticipated, estimated, described or intended.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release
reflect the Company's current views with respect to future events
and are based upon a number of assumptions that, while considered
reasonable by the Company, are inherently subject to significant
operational, business, economic and regulatory uncertainties and
contingencies. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements and should note that the assumptions and
risk factors discussed in this press release are not exhaustive.
Actual results and developments are likely to differ, and may
differ materially, from those expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release. All
forward-looking statements herein are qualified by this cautionary
statement. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
may be required by law. If the Company does update one or more
forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it
will make additional updates with respect to those or other
forward-looking statements, unless required by law. Additional
information about these assumptions, risks and uncertainties is
contained in our filings with securities regulators.
SOURCE Foran Mining Corporation