Aus Tin Mining (ASX:ANW) Granville funding secured

Aus Tin Mining Limited (ASX:ANW) CEO, Peter Williams discusses the funding package and resumption plan for the Granville Tin Project and plans for Granville to be a foundation asset in a proposed IPO.

Anna Napoli: Hello. Anna Napoli for the Finance News Network. And joining me from Aus Tin Mining (ASX:ANW) is CEO Peter Williams. Peter, welcome back.

Peter Williams: Thanks, Anna.

Anna Napoli: Last week you announced a funding package and resumption plan for Granville. Could you please run through the highlights?

Peter Williams: Yeah, look, I'd be delighted to. But let me just first reiterate, back in September we undertook a strategic review of the asset, and one of the things we sought was to determine the most efficient means of extracting value for the asset. And I think this proposed package does precisely that. So firstly it comprises a series of loans. They will be used to resume the operations. There's a second tranche available for exploration and expansion of the operation. And finally there's a third tranche that will provide us with… to meet the costs associated with an IPO.

Now the second element of the deal is that those loans, subject to certain conditions being met, would convert into shares in Ten Star Mining, and that would occur at the same time as an in specie distribution and demerger of those shares in conjunction with an IPO.

So, it's a little bit more complicated. Ultimately what does it mean? It means that we're going to get funding to resume operations, which is really important at this juncture. It also reduces the requirement to raise capital at an ANW level, so at the moment when our share prices is low. And ultimately, should the IPO precede, it's going to give Aus Tin Mining shareholders a direct interest in Granville, and their interests will be proportional to their respective holdings in Aus Tin Mining.

Anna Napoli: You also mentioned the plan for Granville to be a foundation asset in a proposed IPO. Could you perhaps expand on these plans?

Peter Williams: The west coast of Tasmania is certainly one of the most sort of prospective geological areas in Australia, in fact. And I think if you look at some of the world-class mines that are there, there's the Mount Lyell copper-gold mine, there's the Renison tin mine, Savage River magnetite mine, Rosebery base metal mine, and there's a host of other projects. You know, from nickel, tungsten, gold, to name a few. And I guess one thing that's a little bit surprising is that there hasn't been a Tasmanian-focused mining and exploration company on the ASX, and we'd like to change that. So, the plan is that Granville would be the foundation asset, and we'd also look to incorporate into that some of the exploration area that we've applied for and is currently… We're awaiting grant. And we think that that'll be a fabulous springboard for a larger IPO.

Anna Napoli: Finally, Peter, there's been a modest improvement in the tin price recently. What's driving this?

Peter Williams: Yes, there has been a modest improvement in the LME Tin price. We've seen it increase from the low $16,000 to low $17,000, and I think that's mainly due to the arbitrage. We're seeing tin prices on the Shanghai exchange trade at a higher level, and that is around $20,000, so I think there's some upward pressure there. On the LME, you know, stocks have remained relatively static. I think there are some good things coming with respect to tin. We're seeing hopefully the first steps of resolution between the China-US trade war, and that'll be good for tin, and hopefully with last weekend's election in the UK, we'll see some clarity around Brexit, and again, I think that'll be good for global demand for tin.

Anna Napoli: Peter Williams, thank you for the update.

Peter Williams: Thanks, Anna.

Source: Finance News Network