Sierra Nevada Gold pockets almost $10m to advance silver-gold opportunities

• Sierra Nevada Gold raises $9.65m via a placement to existing and new shareholders
• Proceeds to fund drilling across its Nevada projects and business development in USA and Saudi Arabia
• Simon Lill joins the board as non-executive chairman

Special Report: Sierra Nevada Gold is gearing up for a big push in the US and beyond, securing A$9.65 million in a strongly supported placement to fund drilling at its Nevada gold and silver projects and is bringing former De Grey chairman Simon Lill along for the ride.

The explorer has secured the funds through a share placement of 321.7m new shares priced at 3c per share/CDI, including commitments from the board and management totalling $450,000.

Proceeds from the placement, which attracted interest from existing and new shareholders, will fund drilling activities at the Warrier and New pass gold projects, as well as the Blackhawk silver asset in Nevada.

It will also support ongoing business development in both Nevada and Saudi Arabia, where SNX received qualified bidder status to participate in tender rounds for exploration licences within the Kingdom’s Arabian Shield.

Sierra Nevada Gold (ASX:SNX) says the identification of opportunities in Saudi is at an advanced stage thanks to the strong geological understanding and field experience within the team, particularly SNX’s chief geologist and executive director Brett Butlin.

Gold sector veteran Simon Lill joins the board

The company has appointed former De Grey Mining chairman Simon Lill as non-executive chairman.

During his 12 years at De Grey, including nearly a decade as chairman, he helped transform the company from a sub-$1 million market cap into an ASX 200 powerhouse, culminating in Northern Star Resources’ $6 billion takeover earlier this year – one of the largest gold sector deals in Australia.

He also oversaw the discovery of the massive Hemi gold deposit in the Pilbara, guided exceptional resource growth and delivered significant value to shareholders.

With more than 30 years of experience in stockbroking, capital raising, business development, management and analysis across a range of small-cap industries, Lill brings a wealth of expertise to Sierra Nevada Gold as it pushes forward with its exploration and growth plans.

Current SNX executive chairman Peter Moore, soon to become executive director, thanked shareholders for their support in the placement.

“In addition, we are delighted that Simon has agreed to join Sierra Nevada,” he said.

“Simon’s proven leadership and extensive background and knowledge of the resource exploration industry will be invaluable in supporting our exploration efforts as we work to further uncover the potential of Warrior and Blackhawk and commence a bulk sampling project at New Pass.”

Watch more from SNX: Sierra Nevada begins to reveal golden potential of New Pass

Drilling to begin shortly

Incoming SNX non-executive chairman Simon Lill said he’s excited to join the team.

“The work done by Peter and his team to advance these projects over the past 10+ years is commendable,” he said.

“We now need to get on the ground and get some drilling started – within certain seasonal confines.

“The placement allows my tenure to commence with a strong balance sheet, and I thank the brokers and clients for their support,” he added.

“I am excited to help the team unlock the potential held in this project portfolio.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Sierra Nevada Gold, 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.