Vatukoula's investor not deterred by placing delay

Fijian miner Vatukoula Gold Mines has run into some regulatory delays with its share placing, but the good news is that strategic investor Shengen Xintai is still keen to pump money into the firm.

Vatukoula rose 2p to 42p shortly after announcing that the funding and binding placing agreement with Chinese company Shengen Xintai International Mine Industry has been put back due to delays in obtaining the approval of state authorities in China.

Under the placing, to be completed in two tranches, Xintai will invest a total of £10.3m to acquire a total of 20m new ordinary shares, equivalent to 17% of the enlarged share capital of Vatukoula.

Vatukoula has now granted a non-exclusive extension to the placing until the end of November 2012 at Xintai's request. It was supposed to have completed by October 3rd 2012.

The Chief Executive Officer of Xintai, Dingli Wang, commented: "Xintai remains committed to the placing and we continue to believe that Vatukoula represents an excellent investment opportunity. We have spent considerable time at the operations in Fiji and remain confident that the right strategy and management team are in place and are capable of delivering on their stated goals."

Mining minnow Vatukoula will use the funds to fund development of its gold mine in Fiji.

CM