CENTRAL SOUTH AMERICA

SilverCrest parlays share strength in C$30m financing

SilverCrest joins the ranks of juniors doing financings which have picked up in the last couple months.

Author: Kip Keen
Posted: Friday , 05 Oct 2012

Kip Keen - 

SilverCrest Mines, a gold and silver producer that operates the 2,500 tonne per day Santa Elena gold-silver mine in Mexico, put its strengthening shareprice to work with a C$30 million bought deal financing @ C$2.55.

It's worth recalling that a few months ago it was trading under C$2, having fallen with the rest of the junior sector in the first half of 2012, and that a few years ago it was but an under-C$0.50-stock in the months after the 2008-2009 market meltdown (and still well under C$2 before that).

The bought deal also marks one of the larger junior financings of late and underscores an emerging theme as regards the junior market: financings, especially in precious metals, are back with more force than any time in the past year or so. SilverCrest's raise comes close to the C$34 million recently raised by MAG Silver, a junior explorer with enviable silver assets in Mexico (of which Fresnillo wished they owned more).

In fact, it is conceivable SilverCrest matches MAG, as the former also extended a 15 percent overallotment as part of the financing (~C$4 million more to the C$30 million).

Not surprisingly, given SilverCrest's financial and the production strength, no warrants were on offer as part of the financing.