Kingsland bags $1.6m to progress Leliyn to PFS, appoints chairman

• Kingsland raises $1.6m to progress to start of PFS for NT graphite project
• The company has also launched a SPP for eligible shareholders
• Corporate lawyer Anthony Latimer appointed independent non-executive chairman

Special report: Kingsland Minerals has locked in fresh backing to take its Leliyn graphite project in the NT to the next stage, securing $1.6m in a strongly supported capital raise.

The placement of 13.28m shares at 12c each gives KNG the funding it needs to progress to a PFS following a recent scoping study which outlined a 1.5Mt per annum processing plant and competitive operating costs of A$651/t graphite concentrate.

What’s more, Kingsland’s (ASX:KNG) two biggest shareholders, Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners and Bacchus Resources, have doubled down on their support, boosting their stakes to 19.99% and 10% respectively, pending shareholder approval.

Eligible investors will also get their chance to participate, with a share purchase plan set to open at the same issue price.

Meanwhile, corporate lawyer Anthony Latimer will join the board as independent non-executive chairman, bringing extra depth and leadership as Kingsland advances toward the next milestone in Leliyn’s development.

Funds to support exploration, drilling and permitting

KNG managing director Richard Maddocks said the company was pleased with the outcome of the capital raise as it showed great confidence in the Leliyn graphite project.

“In addition, we are offering existing shareholders the right to participate in a share purchase plan (SPP) at the same $0.12 share price as the capital raising,” he said.

“This now sets up the company to progress the Leliyn project to a pre-feasibility study.

“I would also like to welcome Anthony Latimer to the board. Anthony is a very experienced corporate lawyer whose skill set will complement the current board members,” he added.

The SPP is out to raise up to $500,000 at 12c per share, a 9.7% discount to the recent five-day trading average.

Funds will go to advance Leliyn – supporting exploration, drilling, metallurgical testwork, government grant applications, permitting and general working capital.

Scoping study highlights

Other strong results from the scoping study include an estimated production total of ~662,000t recovered graphite concentrate during a 6.9-year processing period for average annual production of ~95,000t graphite concentrate.

The estimated LoM revenue is A$1.05bn with an estimated operating pre-tax cash margin of A$563m, capital costs of ~A$342.7m and a payback of four years.

There is also extensive scope for optimisation which could deliver production increases with capital and operating cost reductions as there is room to grow the inventory beyond the current resource.

Upgrading more of the resource into the indicated category would improve processing throughput, plus the crushing, grinding and flotation parameters could also be improved to maximise recovery and concentrate grades.

Currently, Leliyn is one of Australia’s most significant graphite deposits with a resource of 192.5Mt at 7.3% total graphitic carbon containing 14Mt of graphite.

This article was developed in collaboration with Kingsland Minerals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.