Development will resume at Big Missouri to support the restart of the Premier mine. (Photo: Ascot)

At the same time, Ascot also closed its previously announced equity financing, issuing 262.5 million shares at a price of C$0.16 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately C$42 million ($30 million). The net proceeds of the financing efforts will be used to advance the development of the Premier Northern Lights mine, restart the mill and restart the Big Missouri mine.

“We commend our financing partners, Sprott Streaming and Nebari, for their cooperation and timely closing for this financing and forbearance,” said Derek White, president and CEO, Ascot Resources. “We express our gratitude to our existing shareholders who participated in the equity financing, including our largest shareholder Ccori Apu S.A.C., and Equinox Partners LLP and other long-term shareholders whose support is very much appreciated.

“The company is focused on completing the development of our second mine, Premier Northern Lights, and has agreed to a focused development program with its mining contractor, Procon Mining & Tunneling Ltd, so that mill operations can restart in Q2 2025,” White said. “With both the Premier Northern Lights and Big Missouri mines feeding the mill, Ascot anticipates it can sustainably deliver enough ore feed to profitably run the operation.”

During August, the Premier mill was operating near or above its design capacity and the company had poured 3,430 oz of gold, but the pace of development at the Big Missouri mine had fallen behind schedule by approximately one to two months. The company also discovered that further development was required to access ore at the Premier mine that was deeper than initially planned, which would have delayed the ramp up of mine. As a result, the number of stopes were insufficient to provide enough ore to adequately feed the mill.

To enable sufficient mine development, Ascot decided to suspend operations in September. At the time, the company said it would focus on mine development until the combination of the Big Missouri and Premier mines can sustainably deliver enough ore feed to profitably run the operation, saying that it needed approximately three to six months of development.

At the end of August, the company had C$15 million ($10.7 million) in cash, which would have been enough to maintain its environmental compliance programs through the winter season. It initiated discussions with its secured creditors, saying there was no certainty the company would be able to raise the funds required to complete the necessary mine development work and to restart operations.