NexGold Mining Corp. (
TSXV: NEXG; OTCQX:
NXGCF) (“
NexGold”) and
Signal
Gold Inc. (TSX: SGNL; OTCQB: SGNLF)
(“
Signal”) are pleased to announce that,
further to the companies’ joint news releases dated October 10,
2024 and October 23, 2024, the companies have closed their
previously announced oversubscribed and upsized concurrent
financings for aggregate gross proceeds of $18.5 million. The
Concurrent Financing (as defined below) was carried out in
connection with the proposed plan of arrangement, pursuant to which
NexGold will acquire all of the shares of Signal to create a
near-term gold developer, advancing NexGold’s Goliath Gold Complex
Project (“
Goliath Project”) in Northern Ontario
and Signal’s Goldboro Project (“
Goldboro Project”)
in the historic Goldboro Gold District in Nova Scotia (the
“
Transaction”).
Pursuant to the flow-through unit private
placement of NexGold (the “FT Financing”), NexGold
has issued an aggregate of 10,106,250 units (“FT
Units”) at a price of $0.80 per unit for gross proceeds of
$8,085,000. Each FT Unit is comprised of one flow-through common
share of NexGold (a “FT Share”) and one-half of
one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a
“FT Unit Warrant”) issued on a non-flow-through
basis. The FT Shares have been issued as “flow-through shares”
within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the “Tax
Act”). Each FT Unit Warrant entitles the holder thereof to
purchase one non-flow-through common share of NexGold (a
“NexGold Share”) at a price of $1.05 for a period
of 24 months following the date of issuance.
Pursuant to the subscription receipt private
placement of Signal (the “Hard Dollar Financing”
and together with the FT Financing, the “Concurrent
Financing”), Signal has issued an aggregate of 120,075,840
subscription receipts (“Subscription Receipts”) at
a price of $0.08705 per Subscription Receipt for gross proceeds of
$10,452,601.87. Prior to the completion of the Arrangement, Signal
Gold may exercise its option to issue up to an additional 6,003,792
Subscription Receipts for additional gross proceeds of up to
$522,630.10. The Subscription Receipts will automatically convert
into units of Signal (“NFT Units”) upon
satisfaction or waiver of certain release conditions (including the
satisfaction of all conditions precedent to the completion of the
Transaction, other than those conditions that can only be satisfied
at the effective time of the transaction, including, but not
limited to, the issuance of NexGold Shares as consideration to
shareholders of Signal) (the “Escrow Release
Conditions”). Upon issuance, each NFT Unit will be
comprised of one common share of Signal (a “NFT
Share”) and one-half of one common share purchase warrant
of Signal (each whole warrant, a “NFT Unit
Warrant”). Each NFT Unit Warrant will entitle the holder
thereof to purchase one NFT Share at a price of $0.11818 for a
period of 24 months following the date of issuance.
Each NFT Share issued on conversion of the
Subscription Receipts will then be exchanged for 0.1244 (the
“Exchange Ratio”) of one NexGold Share pursuant to
the terms of the Transaction. Further, NFT Unit Warrants issued on
conversion of the Subscription Receipts will be adjusted in
accordance with their terms such that the NFT Unit Warrants will be
exercisable to acquire NexGold Shares based on the Exchange
Ratio.
The net proceeds of the Hard Dollar Financing
are expected to be used by the combined company to fund the
retirement of certain debt, the exploration and advancement of the
Goliath and Goldboro Projects and for working capital and general
corporate purposes. An amount equal to the gross proceeds from the
issuance of the FT Shares will be used to fund advancement of
NexGold’s projects (which would include Signal’s projects assuming
closing of the Transaction). NexGold will, in a timely and
prescribed manner and form, incur expenses which will: (i)
constitute "Canadian exploration expenses”, and (ii) constitute
“flow-through mining expenditures”, (as all such terms are defined
in the Tax Act), in an amount equal to the gross amount raised
pursuant to the sale of FT Shares. NexGold will, in a timely and
prescribed manner and form, renounce the Canadian exploration
expenses (on a pro rata basis) to each subscriber with an effective
date of no later than December 31, 2024, in accordance with the Tax
Act, as applicable, all in accordance with the terms of the
subscription and renunciation agreements to be entered into by
NexGold and the subscribers in the FT Financing.
In connection with the FT Financing, NexGold
paid finder’s compensation to certain eligible finders comprised of
aggregate cash payments of $120,720 and the issuance of 150,900
non-transferable finder’s warrants (“Finder’s
Warrants”) in respect of subscribers introduced to NexGold
by such finders. The Finder’s Warrants are exercisable to acquire
one NexGold Share at a price of $0.95 for a period of 24 months
from the date of issuance.
In connection with the Hard Dollar Financing, it
is anticipated that Signal will, at the time of conversion of the
Subscription Receipts, pay finder’s compensation to certain
eligible finders to be comprised of: (i) a cash payment of up to
6.0% of the gross proceeds raised from sales of Subscription
Receipts to subscribers introduced by such finders; and (ii) such
number of non-transferable finder’s warrants as is equal to an
amount not to exceed 6.0% of the number of Subscription Receipts
sold to subscribers introduced by such finders to Signal. The
finder’s warrants of Signal will be economically equivalent to the
NFT Unit Warrants, and following closing of the Transaction, each
such finder’s warrant will be adjusted in accordance with its terms
and exercisable to acquire NexGold Shares at a price of $0.95 per
NexGold Share for a period of 24 months.
All securities issued in the Concurrent
Financing are subject to a statutory four-month and one day hold
period from the date of issuance, in addition to such other
restrictions as may apply under applicable securities laws of
jurisdictions outside of Canada.
Certain related parties of NexGold and Signal
(together, the “Interested Parties”) purchased or
acquired direction or control over a total of 537,500 FT Units and
5,166,645 Subscription Receipts collectively in each financing
(with 500,000 FT Units being acquired by related parties of NexGold
participating in the FT Financing and 1,033,890 Subscription
Receipts being acquired by Signal related parties in the Hard
Dollar Financing). The placement to those persons constitutes a
“related party transaction” within the meaning of Multilateral
Instrument 61-101 Protection of Minority Security Holders in
Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”).
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the directors of NexGold and Signal
have determined that the Interested Parties’ participation in the
FT Financing and Hard Dollar Financing, respectively, will be
exempt from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval
requirements of MI 61-101 in reliance on the exemptions set forth
in sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101.
Neither of the companies filed a material change report 21 days
prior to the closing of the Concurrent Financing as the details of
the participation of Interested Parties had not been confirmed at
that time.
An investment fund sub-advised by Sprott Asset
Management (“Sprott”) acquired 2,500,000 FT Units
under the FT Financing for total consideration of $2,000,000. Prior
to the FT Financing, Sprott, together with its affiliates and
sub-advised funds, beneficially owned or controlled 7,368,716
common shares of NexGold and 2,328,750 common share purchase
warrants of NexGold, representing approximately 9.66% of the
outstanding NexGold common shares on a non-diluted basis and 12.34%
of the NexGold common shares on a partially diluted basis. As a
result of the FT Financing, Sprott, together with its affiliates
and sub-advised funds, beneficially owns or controls 9,868,716
NexGold common shares and 3,578,750 common share purchase warrants
representing 11.43% of the issued and outstanding common shares of
NexGold on a non-diluted basis and 14.95% on a partially diluted
basis. The FT Units were acquired for investment purposes. Sprott,
its affiliates and sub-advised funds, may acquire additional
securities of NexGold including on the open market or through
private acquisitions or may sell securities of NexGold including on
the open market or through private dispositions in the future
depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other
relevant factors that Sprott considers relevant from time to
time.
The securities offered in the Concurrent
Financing have not been, and will not be, registered under the
United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S.
Securities Act”), or any U.S. state securities laws, and
may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the
account or benefit of, United States persons absent registration or
any applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the
U.S. Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities laws. This
news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy securities in the United States,
nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction
in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
Please refer to the October 10, 2024 and October
23, 2024 news releases for additional details regarding the
Transaction and proposed debt restructuring to be carried out in
connection with the Transaction.
Investor Awareness and Marketing
Agreement
NexGold has continued the agreement with i2i
Marketing Group LLC ("i2i") that was entered into by NexGold’s
subsidiary, Blackwolf Copper and Gold Ltd., to provide ongoing
marketing services including online content distribution and
advertising (see news release dated October 3, 2023). i2i will work
to facilitate investor awareness about NexGold and its assets. i2i
has been paid an additional USD $250,000 to develop required
content and for advertising for up to six months or until such
funds last. After exhaustion of the additional funds the budget may
be adjusted monthly based on market conditions and NexGold’s
requirements. NexGold will not issue any securities to i2i in
consideration for the marketing services. i2i does not have any
prior relationship with NexGold and NexGold and i2i deal at arm's
length. i2i is based out of Odessa, Florida.
For more information about NexGold and Signal,
please refer to each company’s profile on SEDAR+ at
www.sedarplus.ca.
About NexGold Mining Corp.
NexGold Mining Corp. is a gold-focused company
with assets in Canada and Alaska. NexGold’s Goliath Project (which
includes the Goliath, Goldlund and Miller deposits) is located in
Northwestern Ontario. The deposits benefit substantially from
excellent access to the Trans-Canada Highway, related power and
rail infrastructure and close proximity to several communities
including Dryden, Ontario. For information on the Goliath Project,
refer to the technical report, prepared in accordance with NI
43–101, entitled ‘Goliath Gold Complex – NI 43–101 Technical Report
and Prefeasibility Study’ and dated March 27, 2023, with an
effective date of February 22, 2023, led by independent consultants
Ausenco Engineering Canada Inc. The technical report is available
on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, on the OTCQX at www.otcmarkets.com
and on NexGold’s website at www.nexgold.com.
NexGold also owns several other projects
throughout Canada, including the Weebigee-Sandy Lake Gold Project
JV, and grassroots gold exploration property Gold Rock. In
addition, NexGold holds a 100% interest in the high-grade Niblack
copper-gold-zinc-silver VMS project, located adjacent to tidewater
in southeast Alaska. NexGold is committed to inclusive, informed
and meaningful dialogue with regional communities and Indigenous
Nations throughout the life of all our Projects and on all aspects,
including creating sustainable economic opportunities, providing
safe workplaces, enhancing of social value, and promoting community
well- being. Further details about NexGold are available on
NexGold’s website at www.nexgold.com.
About Signal Gold Inc.
Signal is advancing the Goldboro Gold Project in
Nova Scotia, a significant growth project subject to a positive
Feasibility Study which demonstrates an approximately 11-year open
pit life of mine with average gold production of 100,000 ounces per
annum and an average diluted grade of 2.26 grams per tonne gold.
For further details, refer to the technical report entitled ‘NI
43-101 Technical Report and Feasibility Study for the Goldboro Gold
Project, Eastern Goldfields District, Nova Scotia’ dated January
11, 2022, with an effective date of December 16, 2021. The
technical report is available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca, on the
OTCQX at www.otcmarkets.com and on Signal’s website at
www.signalgold.com. On August 3, 2022, the Goldboro Project
received its environmental assessment approval from the Nova Scotia
Minister of Environment and Climate Change, a significant
regulatory milestone, and Signal has now submitted all key permits
including the Industrial Approval, Fisheries Act Authorization and
Schedule 2 Amendment, and the Mining and Crown Land Leases. The
Goldboro Project has significant potential for further Mineral
Resource expansion, particularly towards the west along strike and
at depth, and Signal has consolidated 28,525 hectares (~285 km2) of
prospective exploration land in the Goldboro Gold District. For
more information on Signal, please visit Signal’s website at
www.signalgold.com.
Technical Disclosure and Qualified
Persons
Adam Larsen, B.Sc., P. Geo., Director of
Exploration of NexGold, is a “qualified person” within the meaning
of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects (“NI 43-101”) and has reviewed and
approved the scientific and technical information in this news
release regarding the Goliath Project on behalf of NexGold.
Kevin Bullock, P. Eng., President, CEO and
Director of Signal, is a “qualified person” within the meaning of
NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and
technical information in this news release regarding the Goldboro
Project on behalf of Signal.
Contact:
NexGold Mining Corp.
Morgan LekstromPresident (250) 574-7350Toll-free:
+1-855-664-4654ir@nexgold.com |
Orin BaranowskyChief Financial Officer(647) 697-2625 |
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Signal Gold Inc.
Kevin BullockPresident & CEO(647)
388-1842kbullock@signalgold.com |
Robert DufourChief Financial Officer(647)
478-8104rdufour@signalgold.com |
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Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-Looking Information
Certain information set forth in this news
release contains "forward‐looking statements" and
"forward‐looking information" within the meaning of applicable
Canadian securities legislation and applicable United
States securities laws (referred to herein as forward‐looking
statements). Except for statements of historical fact, certain
information contained herein constitutes forward‐looking statements
which includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to:
completion of the proposed Transaction, including receipt of all
necessary court, shareholder and regulatory approvals, and the
timing thereof; the combined company’s intended use of the net
proceeds from the Concurrent Financing; the ability to satisfy the
escrow release conditions; and the anticipated benefits and impacts
of the Concurrent Financing.
Forward-looking statements are often identified
by the use of words such as "may", "will", "could", "would",
"anticipate", "believe", "expect", "intend", "potential",
"estimate", "budget", "scheduled", "plans", "planned", "forecasts",
"goals" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are
based on a number of factors and assumptions made by management and
considered reasonable at the time such information is provided.
Assumptions and factors include: the successful completion of the
Transaction (including receipt of all regulatory approvals,
shareholder and third-party consents) and the debt restructuring
(including if the parties are able to reach definitive agreements);
the ability of the combined company to complete its planned
exploration programs; the absence of adverse conditions at mineral
properties; and the price of gold remaining at levels that render
mineral properties economic. Forward‐looking statements necessarily
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause
actual performance and financial results in future periods to
differ materially from any projections of future performance or
result expressed or implied by such forward‐looking statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:
risks related to the Transaction, including, but not limited to,
the ability to obtain necessary approvals in respect of the
Transaction and to consummate the Transaction and the debt
restructuring; general business, economic and competitive
uncertainties; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or
financing; and management's ability to anticipate and manage the
foregoing factors and risks. Although the companies have attempted
to identify important factors that could cause actual actions,
events or results to differ materially from those described in the
forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause
actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or
intended. Readers are advised to study and consider risk factors
disclosed in NexGold’s and Signal’s annual information forms for
the year ended December 31, 2023, available on
www.sedarplus.ca.
There can be no assurance that forward‐looking
statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. The companies undertake no obligation to update
forward‐looking statements if circumstances or management's
estimates or opinions should change except as required by
applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements
contained herein are presented for the purposes of assisting
investors in understanding the companies' plans, objectives and
goals, including with respect to the Transaction, and may not be
appropriate for other purposes. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of future performance and the reader is cautioned not to
place undue reliance on forward‐looking statements. This news
release also contains or references certain market, industry and
peer group data, which is based upon information from independent
industry publications, market research, analyst reports, surveys,
continuous disclosure filings and other publicly available sources.
Although NexGold and Signal believe these sources to be generally
reliable, such information is subject to interpretation and cannot
be verified with complete certainty due to limits on the
availability and reliability of raw data, the voluntary nature of
the data gathering process and other inherent limitations and
uncertainties. NexGold and Signal have not independently verified
any of the data from third party sources referred to in this news
release and accordingly, the accuracy and completeness of such data
is not guaranteed.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation
Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this news release. No stock exchange, securities
commission or other regulatory authority has approved or
disapproved the information contained herein.