Atacama continues move into West African metals with Sirocco acquisition, C$60M raising

Finance

Publishing Date: 25 Jan 2012 2:33pm GMT
Author: Mining Journal

Atacama Minerals Corp has announced the completions of an acquisition and private placement, gaining 100% ownership of Sirocco Gold Inc and raising C$60 million (US$59.2 million) for the acquisition of new projects in South America and West Africa.

The owners of Sirocco, a privately-held gold exploration company with assets in West Africa, traded the company for 20 million shares in Atacama, alongside a 10 million share private placement offered to Sirocco stock-holders at C$0.69/share. The deal was concluded yesterday. Atacama also said it had closed the C$60 million placement, in which 50 million share-exchangeable receipts were sold at C$1.20/share.

Atacama presently operates an iodine mine in northern Chile and is developing a potash project in northern Brazil. The company’s acquisition of the privately-held Sirocco forms part of an ongoing expansion into West African gold and base metals – Atacama is also conducting exploration at sites in Cote D’Ivoire and Mauritania.