CAPITAL MARKETS

Macarthur to have another crack at the ASX

TORONTO-listed Macarthur Minerals has announced plans to dual list on the ASX before the end of the year.

 Macarthur drilling at Lake Giles earlier this year

Macarthur drilling at Lake Giles earlier this year

The Brisbane-based company tried to list subsidiary Macarthur Australia on the ASX in 2017, but pulled the offer due to weak market conditions.

Since then, conditions in the iron ore sector have improved and earlier this year, the company signed a life-of-mine offtake deal with Glencore for its Lake Giles iron ore project in Western Australia's Yilgarn region.

The Swiss commodities giant has agreed to buy 4 million tonnes per annum of iron ore for the first 10 years of operation, with the option to extend for a further 10 years.

Lake Giles comprises the Moonshine magnetite project and Ularring hematite project.

Moonshine has an indicated and inferred resource of 1.31 billion tonnes at 30.1% iron, but metallurgical work suggests that can be upgraded to 68.5-69.1% iron, while Ularring has an indicated resource of 54.46Mt at 47.2% iron and an inferred resource of 26Mt at 45.4% iron, with an earlier prefeasibility study focusing on producing a 60.1% iron sinter fines product.

In July, the company closed a US$6 million private placement to advance work on Lake Giles, where C$60 million has already been spent.

The ASX has confirmed Macarthur's suitability for listing, which paves the way for the company to lodge a prospectus.

It is unclear if Macarthur will raise money in connection with the listing, but executive chairman Cameron McCall said an ASX listing would provide increased opportunities to access capital from wholesale investors and an enhanced opportunity for retail investors in Australia to participate in the advancement of the company's projects. 
 
"An ASX dual listing will provide Macarthur with sufficient funding to continue the advancement of the company's flagship Lake Giles iron project in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia and will support the company's objective to transition to a near-term producer of premium magnetite concentrate for global speciality steel markets," he said.

The company said work on the listing was well advanced.

Macarthur shares fell 8.3% in Toronto overnight to C5.5c. The stock opened the year at 3c and rose as high as 15c when the Glencore deal was announced in March.

The company has a market capitalisation of $17.6 million.

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