ASX Escrow Watch: Resources stocks dominate list of shares due for release

Resources stocks continue to dominate the list of companies to release shares from escrow
Newly listed seafood company Catalano Seafood will release shares from voluntary escrow
Lithium explorer Pan Asia Metals will release shares held in escrow since its IPO in 2020

Escrow Watch is Stockhead’s monthly recap of the ASX companies that are releasing shares currently in escrow (also known as restricted securities) over the coming weeks.

ASX shares in escrow are “locked away” and not listed on the bourse so owners can’t sell them – until they’re released.

This is intended to depict to would-be investors when raising capital that the management and previous investors are still backing the venture and aren’t raising capital just so they can “sell out”.

While there’s no guarantee holders of escrowed shares will sell at that point, the mere fact that they will be able to is worth knowing – particularly if shares have substantially moved one way or the other.

Click here for a more detailed description of the ASX rules surrounding escrow arrangements. Here are companies due to release shares.

October 6 – Sarytogan Graphite to release fully paid shares and options

Sarytogan Graphite (ASX:SGA) will release 1,137,500 fully paid ordinary shares and 1,012,500 options exercisable at 25 cents and expiring on November 30, 2024. The company recently reported positive further drilling results from the Sarytogan Graphite Deposit in Central Kazakhstan.

The company has a further 70,783,419 fully paid ordinary shares still in escrow along with 14,787,500 options and 20,117,646 performance rights. They will be released on various dates in 2023 and 2024. SGA listed on the ASX on July 18 and while its share price rose up from its original offer of 20 cents to a peak of 52.4 cents at the end of August it has since dropped back to ~32 cents.

October 7 – Pan Asia Metals to release shares from escrow held since IPO

Lithium explorer Pan Asia Metals (ASX:PAM) will release 72,935,348 shares from escrow. According to the ASX announcement the shares were held in escrow for a period of 24 months from the date of the company’s listing on the ASX.

The escrow shares are represented by 10 holders, seven are related parties and three are unrelated parties.

“All 10 escrow shareholders have represented to PAM that they are supportive of PAM’s management and strategy and that they intend on maintaining their holdings in PAM,” the announcement said.

The PAM share price is down ~35% year to date.

October 7 – Siren Gold to release fully paid ordinary and options

Siren Gold (ASX:SNG) will release 11,484,552 fully paid ordinary shares, 5000 options expiring on January 15, 2023 and 9,293,262 options expiring on September 26, 2024.

SNG announced yesterday it wanted to update the mineral resource estimate (MRE) for the Sams Creek gold project in the South Island of New Zealand. In 2013, engineering company Golder completed a JORC-compliant MRE for the Sam’s Creek project which stood at 7.5 million tonnes at 2.43 grams per tonne (g/t) gold for 588,000 ounces.

However, SNG believes there is significant potential for a large underground mining operation at Sams Creek. The company said the resource model could be improved for an underground mining scenario.

The SNG share price is down more than 35% year to date.

October 8 – Catalano Seafood to release 1.75 million shares from escrow

Catalano Seafood (ASX:CSF) will release 1.75 million shares from voluntary escrow. CSF went from a Cannington fish and chip shop in the 1960s to a national wholesaler and retailer. It made a $5m IPO at 20 cents/share listing on March 11 – with big plans to expand its national supply footprint.

The company has a pipeline of new processing contracts, while its east coast expansion is on track. The CSF share price is down ~33% year to date.

October 14 – Orange Minerals to release shares and options

Gold and copper explorer Orange Minerals (ASX:OMX) will release 850,000 fully paid ordinary shares and 3,700,000 unlisted options. OMX said it will apply for quotation of the fully paid ordinary shares. OMX recently announced it had made a $600,000 strategic investment in Godolphin Resources (ASX:GRL) through a capital raising of $1.6m at 8.5 cents/share.

GRL is focused on the development of projects containing critical minerals and green metals across an established tenement suite in central west NSW. The OMX share price is down ~59% year to date.

October 25 – GreenTech Metals to release ~1 million shares

GreenTech Metals (ASX:GRE) has announced it will release 1,010,001 fully paid ordinary shares from escrow. GRE listed on the ASX in early 2022 with a high-quality suite of nickel, copper and platinum group element (PGE) assets in the underexplored West Pilbara region of Western Australia, including the Whundo copper-zinc project and the Ruth Well nickel-copper project.

GRE recently announced it had completed its maiden drill at Osborne nickel JV with Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) giving the explorer a chance to focus on both the Ruth Well deposit and its Pilbara-based Whundo prospect.

Its share price has fallen ~43% year to date.

October 28 – Coda Minerals to release fully paid ordinary shares and options

Coda Minerals (ASX:COD) will release 6,310,952 fully paid ordinary shares and 6 million options expiring on July 3, 2024 from escrow. The company said it will apply for quotation of the fully paid ordinary shares.

COD this week announced it had completed its first round of drilling at the Cameron River project in North Queensland with a copper bearing system identified. Samples are currently being prepared for assay and results are expected later this year. Cameron River comprises 35km2 of copper and gold exploration tenure immediately north of the historical Mary Kathleen Uranium Mine.

The company is working to earn an 80% interest in the project through a joint venture agreement signed in March 2021 with Wilgus Investments. COD’s share price has risen more than 5% on the positive announcement.