Wia Gold has raised N$208 million (A$16.9 million) for the ongoing drilling at the Kokoseb discovery and exploration at the Cote d’Ivoire projects.
The ASX-listed company issued 211.5 million new fully paid ordinary shares at A$0.08 each to sophisticated, professional and institutional investors.
Drilling at the Kokoseb gold discovery is ongoing, and three rigs are on site.
Wia Gold increased the mineral resource estimate of the Kokoseb gold discovery by 63% to 2.12 Moz gold at an overall discovery cost of less than US$3/oz.
Kokoseb’s discovery of gold mineralisation remains open in every direction and at depth, with the optimisation pit shell extending along a 4.8km strike from the 6.5km strike covered by the mineral resource estimate model.
The drilling activities aim to aggressively further the mineral resource estimate and classification grade.
Wia executive chairperson Josef El-Raghy says investors’ support strongly validates the further potential of the Kokoseb gold discovery and the broader portfolio.
“It is an exciting time for Wia. Following the recent increase in mineral resource estimates, we still have multiple avenues to deliver substantial further growth in the Kokoseb deposit.
“Our technical team has invested in the exploration of this discovery extremely efficiently, as evidenced by our very low US$2.80 per ounce overall discovery cost,” El-Raghy said.
The Kokoseb Gold Project lies within the Okombahe EPL 4814 jointly by WIA (80%) and the Namibian state-owed mining company Epangelo (20%).
The EPL is part of Wia Gold’s broader Damaran Belt tenure in Namibia, which comprises 12 tenements covering a total area of over 2,700 km2.