Mining news this week centred on capital and geography in equal measure: Ferrexpo pushed through a heavily dilutive equity raise to bring its Ukraine iron ore operations back online, while a trio of Botswana-focused explorers advanced copper licences and funding across the Kalahari Copper Belt and adjacent ground. The common thread was survival and continuity, companies securing the cash and permits needed to keep drilling and production plans alive.
Ferrexpo closes $100m raise to restart Ukraine output
Ferrexpo (LSE:FXPO) has raised $100m of new equity to fund the restart of production at its iron ore operations in Ukraine, a move that addresses what had become an acute cash crisis for the London-listed producer. The shares, suspended since 1 May, last closed at 28.6p; they trade today at 28.58p, down 6.84%, as the market digests the scale of dilution involved in getting the business moving again.
The company issued 448.85m new shares, split between a 269.31m-share placing and a 179.54m-share subscription, both priced at 16.5p, a discount of roughly 42.3% to the pre-suspension close. The new stock represents approximately 73.1% of Ferrexpo's existing issued capital. Chairman Andriy Verevskyi anchored the placing with a $50m cornerstone commitment, taking 224.42m new shares, while largest shareholder Fevamotinico subscribed for another 179.54m shares and has committed its 49.27% stake to backing the resolutions at a general meeting on 21 September. The placing was oversubscribed. Trading is expected to resume on 7 September once the audit is completed and annual accounts published.
"The proceeds will provide the Group with the strengthened balance sheet to restart production at our operations in Ukraine, and will help secure thousands of jobs that are central to Ferrexpo, our local communities and the wider Ukrainian economy," said Lucio Genovese, interim executive chair of Ferrexpo.
The raise buys Ferrexpo time it did not otherwise have, net accessible cash was on track to run out by mid-September without new funding, but the terms tell their own story about how precarious the position had become. A 42.3% discount and near-doubling of the share count are the price of keeping Ukrainian operations, and the jobs tied to them, running; existing holders now own a much smaller slice of a business whose restart still depends on shareholder approval and conditions on the ground in Ukraine holding steady enough to resume output.
Metals One secures £4m loan to fund gold projects
Metals One (AIM:MET1) has secured £4m in gross funding from YA II PN, a fund managed by Yorkville Advisors Global, structured as a senior promissory note rather than a convertible instrument, meaning the principal itself cannot convert into equity. Shares in the critical and precious metals developer, focused on gold and uranium, traded at 1.37p, down 1.44%, on the news.
The note carries a 5% original issue discount and 7% annual interest, rising to 18% on default, leaving net proceeds of £3.74m after fees; repayments start 60 days after closing in equal monthly instalments of 10% of the original principal until fully repaid. Metals One will also issue Yorkville 221.36m warrants, matching the note's value and exercisable over three years. Including the new facility, the company now holds more than £11m in cash and liquid portfolio investments, against roughly £6m of listed investments it intends to divest to help fund repayments. "This structure enables the Company to leverage marketable value in its non-core portfolio to provide non-dilutive capital to advance its core opportunities wherein we believe material near-term value uplift potential resides," said Daniel Maling, managing director of Metals One.
Structuring the facility as debt rather than a convertible avoids the immediate equity dilution that has weighed on peers like Ferrexpo, and the plan to fund repayments from non-core listed holdings rather than the balance sheet itself preserves flexibility for the company's core gold and uranium projects. The trade-off is a repayment schedule that begins quickly and a default rate steep enough to demand discipline in executing the planned divestments on time.
Botswana Minerals defines nine copper corridors, preps northern field sampling
Botswana Minerals (AIM:BMIN) said its AI-driven analysis of southern licence data has defined nine principal exploration corridors, advancing a programme that began with a database review covering roughly 95,000 square kilometres. Shares in the copper explorer rose to 0.22p, up 4.762%, as the narrowing of targets moves the project closer to drilling.
That initial database work led to the January award of eight prospecting licences spanning approximately 7,000 square kilometres in north-west Botswana. One southern target now sits directly adjacent to historic boreholes that recorded copper oxide and copper carbonate mineralisation, and the company has located the relevant historical drill core for examination. The southern interpretation also carries wider regional significance: published geological work suggests parts of north-west Botswana may represent an eastward continuation of Namibia's Matchless Belt. "We are progressing our AI targets to drilling sites. We started with a very large Botswana database, used it to secure prospective ground and have progressively narrowed the search. In the north we are moving to sample the best target areas, to define drill sites," said John Teeling, chairman of Botswana Minerals.
The progression from continent-scale data to nine defined corridors and imminent field sampling marks a meaningful de-risking step for a still-early-stage explorer, converting a broad regional thesis into specific, drill-ready targets. Confirmation of a link to the Matchless Belt's mineralised trend would materially strengthen the exploration case, though that remains to be proven once sampling and drilling get under way.
Serval Resources secures full renewal of Botswana licence portfolio
Serval Resources (AIM:SRVL), which is building an independent copper and future metals developer, said Botswana's Department of Mines has renewed every exploration prospecting licence in its portfolio, extending them to 30 September 2028. Shares in the company stand at 21.0p.
The renewals cover PL 061/2021, PL 062/2021, PL 2473/2023 and PL 2474/2023, with the latter forming part of Sweet Thorn Pan, Serval's top exploration priority in the Kalahari Copper Belt. Alongside the renewals, the company relinquished a lower-priority licence, PL 2472/2023, trimming its Kalahari Copper Belt land package to approximately 990.93 square kilometres from 1,283 square kilometres previously. "This licence has been shown from historical work to have the known mineralised contact that is being mined by the nearby MMG Khoemacau operations, and this renewal has ensured that we maintain all of the originally identified prospective areas," said Robin Birchall, chief executive of Serval Resources.
Securing tenure through 2028 removes a key regulatory overhang for Serval's flagship prospect just as the company positions itself alongside an established producer's mineralised trend, while the deliberate shedding of peripheral ground signals a sharper focus on the assets management rates as most prospective.