KEFI Minerals, the gold and copper explorer with projects in Saudi Arabia, said it has conditionally raised £1.85 million before expenses through a "significantly over-subscribed" placing. In all, Fox Davies Capital issued 61,666,667 ordinary shares on behalf of KEFI at 3 pence each. The broker issued a flash note today, saying it was happy with the raising and that the price only represents a 10 percent discount to Thursday's closing price. The money will allow KEFI to continue the exploration program on its three licenses in Saudi Arabia. "We estimate, that after all placing expenses are taken out, this raising will leave KEFI with about £2 million to play with, which should fund the company for another 12 months and pay for at least 10 000 meters of drilling this year," FD Capital analyst Juan Alvarez said. The drilling program is currently in the planning stages and will combine reverse circulation and diamond drilling. "The steady news flow, if combined with successful assay results, will act as key catalysts for driving the share price higher," Alvarez added. The company announced last month that the Gold & Minerals (G&M) joint venture through which it operates in Saudi Arabia has been granted two exploration licenses in the kingdom for five years. This took the total to three licenses, with a further 15 exploration license applications pending. The joint venture has started surface exploration over the new licenses with the aim of generating targets for drill testing as soon as possible. Limited rock chip sampling, undertaken by G&M during field assessment of the area, returned results of up to 5 grams per ton gold from quartz vein zones located within the licenses. The company has projects in Turkey and in Saudi Arabia. It operates the 40 percent held Saudi G&M JV in a strategic alliance with construction and investment group ARTAR. FD Capital retains its 'Speculative Buy' recommendation on KEFI.
