Special Report: Base and precious metals explorer Adriatic Metals made a steady debut on the ASX Tuesday.

The first ASX company  with exposure to the emerging mining scene in Bosnia and Herzegovina listed at 22c compared to its 20c issue price.

The stock hit a high of 23.5c before closing its first day of trade steady at 20c.

Adriatic announced today that $1.2 billion copper producer Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) had become a cornerstone investor — emerging with a 7.7 per cent stake (accounting for $2 million of the $10 million raised in the IPO).

Adriatic raised $10 million in an IPO led by Perth-based corporate advisory firm Discovery Capital Partners.

Investors evidently had little concern about Adriatic’s main assets being in the previously war-torn European country with the bookbuild for the IPO opening and closing in a single day heavily oversubscribed.

The assets that will be the focus of Adriatic’s exploration efforts, Veovaca and Rupice, are advanced zinc polymetallic projects located near the town of Vares, 50km north of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

 

Among the company’s short-term goals are expanding the current resource of 4.4 million tonnes at 4.8 per cent zinc equivalent at Veovaca and establishing a maiden JORC 2012-compliant resource at Rupice through infill drilling.

JORC compliance refers to the mining industry’s code for reporting exploration results, mineral resources and ore reserves, managed by the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee.

Rupice shows the potential to be one of the highest grade zinc polymetallic projects in the world, with drilling conducted by Adriatic in 2017 returning a stunning intercept of 60m at 29 per cent zinc equivalent from a depth of 172 metres.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has seen little investment in mineral exploration since the end of the civil war in the early 1990s and the signing of the Dayton peace agreement.

Adriatic Metals is focused on two advanced zinc polymetallic projects located near Vares, 50km north of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

The country shares similar geology to neighbouring Serbia, which hosts some of the world’s largest mineral deposits and has recently attracted investment from big miners including Rio Tinto, Freeport McMoran and First Quantum Minerals.

The bureaucracy that has deterred foreign investment in the past is also seen to be improving as the government seeks admission to the European Union in 2018.

Tuesday’s listing will also see the unveiling of the identity of the ASX200 mining company that has backed Adriatic’s Bosnian foray as a cornerstone investor in the IPO.

Although Independence Group chairman Peter Bilbe has been appointed to chair Adriatic, it is understood that Independence is not the mystery backer.

 

This special report is brought to you by Adriatic Metals.

This advice has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. You should, therefore, consider the appropriateness of the advice, in light of your own objectives, financial situation or needs, before acting on the advice.

If this advice relates to the acquisition, or possible acquisition, of a particular financial product, the recipient should obtain a disclosure document, a Product Disclosure Statement or an offer document (PDS) relating to the product and consider the PDS before making any decision about whether to acquire the product.

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