Gran Colombia Announces Closing of Offering of US$300 Million

Gran Colombia Gold (TSX: GCM; OTCQX: TPRFF) has completed its previously announced offering of US$300 million in 6.875% senior unsecured notes that are due in 2026.

South America-focussed Gran Colombia is  the largest underground gold and silver producer in Colombia with several mines in operation at its high-grade Segovia Operations. In Guyana, the company is advancing its recently acquired Toroparu project, one of the largest undeveloped gold projects in the Americas. Gran Colombia also owns an approximately 44% equity interest in Aris Gold Corporation (TSX: ARIS), about 27% equity interest in Denarius Silver Corp. (TSXV: DSLV) and about 26% equity interest in Western Atlas Resources Inc. (TSXV: WA).

Miners at Gran Colombia’s Segovia operation in Colombia. Credit: Gran Colombia Gold

“We are delighted with the overwhelming success of this offering, one which attracted high quality institutional and retail investors who recognized our focus on a strong credit profile and growth through diversification,” said Serafino Iacono, Executive Chairman of Gran Colombia. “With the net proceeds of this offering, we will be fully funded to develop our Toroparu gold/copper project in Guyana and we will not need to go to market with any dilutive equity financings to carry out our strategy.”

The company’s Toroparu project is situated in the highly prospective Upper Puruni River Region of western Guyana, and contains one of the largest in-situ gold projects owned by an independent junior mining company in South America.

The deposits lie within the Puruni Shear Corridor, a geologic feature that can be traced into the Malawi gold fields of eastern Venezuela. Significant resource growth possibilities with the Puruni Shear Corridor are supported both by the discovery of satellite gold deposits within the Upper Puruni Concession Area, SE Zone and Sona Hill, geochemical anomalies in the adjacent Otomung Concession, and the existence of gold deposits across the border in Venezuela along the shear.

Iacono said that, “we are nearing completion of our updated preliminary economic assessment for the Toroparu project incorporating the recently announced high-grade results from the 2020-2021 drilling program. We are very excited to begin this next chapter, creating value for our stakeholders through our diversified growth platform centered on two cornerstone assets, our Segovia Operations in Colombia and our Toroparu project in Guyana.”

At presstime, Gran Colombia’s shares were trading at $4.67 within a 52-week range of $4.50 and $8.40. The company has 98 million shares outstanding for a market cap of $459 million.