Allegiant Gold surges on 50% financing upsize

[Ben Graham]

Allegiant Gold (TSXV: AUAU) has once again increased the size of its recently arranged private placement to fund the company’s exploration plans in Nevada.

In a press release Friday, the gold junior said it will now issue up to 21 million units at C$0.50 each. Each unit comprises one common share and one-half of a warrant that is exercisable at C$0.70 per share for 18 months.

This represents Allegiant’s second upsizing since its initial financing announcement of C$7 million on July 29. Shortly after, it increased the financing size to C$8.5 million, and has now raised it by 50% to C$10.5 million.

Shares of Allegiant Gold soared on the news, trading at a new 52-week high of C$0.85 with a market capitalization of C$58.1 million ($42 million). The stock had traded as low as $0.20 this year.

As disclosed previously, the company plans to use the proceeds to fund exploration at its flagship Eastside gold-silver project, located 35 km from the town of Tonopah.

“This financing will allow us to accelerate the development of Eastside through expanded geophysics, detailed mapping, and up to 18,000 metres of additional RC (reverse circulation) and diamond core drilling,” Allegiant’s CEO stated in a July 29 press release.

The Eastside project, covering 80 km² of mineral claims, is still in the resource expansion stage. Exploration to date has delineated a total inferred resource of 1.1 million oz. in gold and 8.8 million oz. of silver.