Zinc explorer Metalicity (ASX:MCT) is seeking to spin out its large-scale Admiral Bay zinc project into a Vancouver-based subsidiary and list on the TSX Venture Exchange after receiving strong market interest from the North Americans for an initial public offering of the project in Canada.
The ASX-listed company said today it would form a wholly owned subsidiary in Vancouver, Canada, to be named Kimberley Mining Limited and, pending shareholder approval, will effectively vend Admiral Bay into Kimberley Mining.
Kimberley Mining would then undertake an IPO in Canada and seek a listing on the TSX-V concurrently with the completion of the offering.
Meanwhile, Metalicity is finalising the appointment of Toronto based mining executives to the board of Kimberley Mining, as well as three Metalicity directors, to advance the listing.
The Company is also already advanced in finalising a short list of senior management with outstanding candidates having very quickly emerged, most nominated by fund managers and investment banks.
Project stakeholders and some of the world’s largest mining investors including Resource Capital Funds and China Minmetals, one of the world’s leading zinc smelting companies, have thrown their support behind the listing.
Over the past six months, Metalicity received numerous reverse enquiries from Canadian investment banks and fund managers concerning Admiral Bay, with the scale and quality of Admiral Bay being of particular interest,” Metalicity said.
“Further, the relative value ascribed to the asset by ASX investors is very attractive to those investment banks and fund managers.”
Metalicity said the majority of North American institutions predominantly focus on the North American markets and actively encouraged the Company to seek a listing of Admiral Bay on the TSX-V.
Located in the Canning Basin some 140km south of Broome in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, Admiral Bay has an inferred mineral resource estimate of 170 million tonnes grading at 7.5% zinc equivalent including a high-grade zone of 20Mt at 10% zinc equivalent.
The listing of Admiral Bay will help the project through a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), its next round of resource and exploration drilling, followed by completion of a Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS), and ultimately into production.
Metalicity is now working through the pathway to the listing of Admiral Bay onto the TSX-V in conjunction with its advisors and will keep the market informed as to timing, process, capital structure, cash/share quantum to Metalicity, senior management, and a syndicate of brokers for the TSV-V listing.
Shares in Metalicity were last trading at 3.2c at 12:30pm AEDT.
