Val d’Or explorer Metanor makes its debut

It’s that time in the gold cycle: IPO’s are starting to sprout up again. Today it’s Metanor Resources (MTO-V), a junior gold explorer in Quebec, making its first appearance in TSX Venture Exchange trading.

Based in Val-d’Or, Metanor is headed up by President and CEO Serge Roy, and its board is comprised of Roy, Marie-Louis Roy, Ghislain Morin, Yves Gagnon and Francine Gaudreault. Andre Tremblay is the vice-president of exploration.

The company has just raised $3 million by placing 3 millions units, with each unit comprised of a share and a warrant entitling its holder to buy another share for $1.30 before Dec. 16 2004.

Canaccord Capital acted as agent and received a 10% fee plus 300,000 broker warrants exercisable into shares at $1 within a year. There is also a small over-allotment option.

Not counting any over-allotment, Metanor now has 9,615,915 common shares and 3 million warrants issued and outstanding.

Most of the net proceeds are earmarked for exploration of Metanor’s wholly owned, 14-claim Dubuisson gold property, situated within the city limits of Val d’Or.

Metanor gained the asset in April 2003 by acquiring privately held Ressources Pyrinor in return for 6.03 million Metanor shares.

The property has a history of intermitent exploration and small-scale, high-grade gold mining dating back to 1923.

Exploration over the past few years at Dubuisson’s gold-bearing zone 5 has delineated a near-vertical, east-west-trending quartz-vein structure extending 700 metres in length and 3-5 metres in width.

Almost a million dollars has been spent at the property since 2001, resulting in the calculation of measured and indicated resources within zone 5 of 115,076 tonnes grading 4.15 grams gold (15,430 contained oz.) and 3.2 million inferred tonnes at the same grade (433,000 contained oz.).

Metanor also has its Vassan gold property in the region, but no work is planned for 2004.

The debut was auspicious: shares ended the day up 10% to $1.10, while the warrants closed up 20 at 25.