Golden Queen brings 'interesting' offering; Chesser to sell stock; PuriCore targets £8 million

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Portland, Ore., May 28 - Issuers outside the United States continued to tap the PIPE market on Friday for exploration funding.

Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. announced an "interesting" financing, according to the company's president. The company is seeking C$8 million from a private placement of units, which will be sold to a single investor. The proceeds will be used to advance the company's Soledad project.

Chesser Resources Ltd. also announced an A$8 million deal. The company will sell ordinary shares to raise the funds, which will be used for its "aggressive" exploration program. Chesser said the deal was already oversubscribed.

And, PuriCore plc brought an £8 million transaction to market. The company is selling convertible loan notes in its efforts to raise the money.

Meanwhile, Bear Lake Gold Ltd. said it would take in C$4.15 million from a private placement of units and equity. The funds will be used, in part, for exploration.

Also, Indicator Minerals Inc. will raise C$2 million in a private unit sale. Those proceeds will also be used for exploration.

Golden Queen brings 'interesting' financing

Golden Queen Mining has planned a C$8 million non-brokered private placement of units, according to a press release.

Gammon Gold Inc. is the investor and, upon closing, will hold 5.3% of Golden Queen's outstanding stock.

The Vancouver, B.C.-based company will sell 5 million units at C$1.60 per unit. Each unit will contain one common share, one quarter-share A warrant and one quarter-share B warrant.

Whole A warrants are exercisable at C$1.75 for 18 months and each whole B warrant is exercisable at $2.00, also for 18 months.

Proceeds will be used to fund the ongoing development of the company's Soledad Mining project and for working capital.

"This is a very interesting transaction in the sense that it gives us some flexibility," Lutz Klingmann, president, told Prospect News. "It leaves us with some cash to move forward with this project.

"Everybody will just have to wait and see how this goes," he quipped.

Golden Queen's stock (TSX Venture: GQM) fell 2 cents, or 1.33%, to C$1.48. Market capitalization is C$133 million.

Golden Queen Mining is a gold exploration company.

Chesser aims for A$8 million

Chesser Resources, a Narwood, Australia-based mineral exploration company, is also seeking A$8 million via a private placement.

The company will sell approximately 26.67 million ordinary shares in the deal, at A$0.30 per share.

The deal is expected to come in two tranches, and, according to a press release, is already "substantially oversubscribed." Settlement of the first tranche is expected within the next two weeks.

"This placement strengthens the company's ability to fund its aggressive exploration program to be conducted shortly on its Kestanelik Project in Turkey," said Rick Valenta, managing director, in the release. "We are pleased to welcome a number of new and well-respected Australian and overseas institutional investors.

"Investor interest in Chesser and its high-grade epithermal gold project at Kestanelik has been strong," he added. "The placement was substantially oversubscribed, which clearly underscores the market's confidence in this exciting project. We are now in an excellent position to embark on the aggressive exploration program planned at Kestanelik, which should allow a JORC compliant resource to be estimated by the end of 2010."

Chesser's equity (Australia: CHZ) closed at A$0.355.

PuriCore seeks £8 million

PuriCore will raise £8 million via a private placement of 6% secured convertible loan notes, the company announced.

The notes come due Dec. 31, 2011 and are initially convertible into common shares at 7.5p.

Investors participating in the financing include certain directors of the company, as well as two senior managers.

Part of the proceeds will be used to cover the company's working capital shortfall.

"The fundraising enables PuriCore to continue to deliver on its business plan to drive top-line growth based on the strong pipelines in both core businesses, ultimately steering the company to being cash flow positive," said Greg Bosch, chief executive officer, in a press release. "We appreciate the support of our shareholders and encourage all to review the circular as they evaluate the transaction."

Calls seeking further comment wre not returned Friday.

PuriCore's equity (London: PURI) ended at 9p. Market capitalization is £31.8 million.

PuriCore is a Malvern, Pa.-based water-based clean technology company.

Bear Lake to sell units, stock

Bear Lake Gold announced a C$4.15 million private placement of units and equity.

The company will issue approximately 5.66 million units in the non-brokered transaction at C$0.18 per unit. Bear Lake will also sell 15.65 million flow-through common shares at C$0.20 each.

The units will consist of one common share and one warrant, which is exercisable at C$0.30 for two years.

Proceeds from the unit sale will be used for general corporate purposes, while proceeds from the sale of the flow-through shares will be used for exploration on the company's Larder lake project.

Settlement is expected by June 11.

Bear Lake's shares (TSX Venture: BLG) ended steady at C$0.19. Market capitalization is C$16.7 million.

Bear Lake Gold is a Longueuil, Quebec-based gold and precious metals exploration company.

Indicator plans unit sale

Indicator Minerals will conduct a C$2 million non-brokered private placement of units, the company said in a press release.

Indicator will issue flow-through units at C$0.15 each and non-flow-through units at C$0.12 each.

The flow-through units will hold one flow-through common share and one warrant. The warrant is exercisable at C$0.20 for two years.

The non-flow-through units will contain one common share and one warrant, which is exercisable at C$0.16 for two years.

Proceeds will be used for exploration at the company's Nunavut properties, as well as for working capital.

Calls seeking further comment were not returned Friday.

Indicator's stock (TSX Venture: IME) was unchanged atC$0.14. Market capitalization is C$9.86 million.

Indicator Minerals is a Vancouver, B.C.-based gemstone exploration company.

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