Broken Hill Prospecting raises $4.5 million in IPO

Heritage Gold is pleased to announce that the initial public offering of base metal explorer Broken Hill Prospecting Ltd (ASX code BPL; NZSX code BPL) has successfully raised $4.5 million. As a result of the capital raising, BPL is expected to list on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges on 15 February. Heritage Gold will maintain a 21.7 per cent interest in the company after the share issue.

Heritage Gold chief executive Peter Atkinson said, “The Australian and New Zealand stock exchange listings are being undertaken to accelerate and expand development of BPL’s cobalt and base metal tenements at Thackaringa, near the mining centre of Broken Hill in New South Wales.”

At Pyrite Hill and Big Hill the total inferred cobalt mineral resources¹ have been estimated at 15 million tonnes with a combined average grade of over 2.1 pounds per tonne (lb/t). The deposits remain open along strike and at depth. Atkinson says he is pleased with the outcome of the IPO, which was launched just days before the Pike River Coal disaster in New Zealand, leading to an extension of the capital raising to 31 January 2011.

He noted that BPL’s recent exploration, managed by Heritage Gold, “encountered strongly anomalous copper, lead and zinc values in lode bearing rocks over 500 metre strike lengths at Pyramid Hill and Himalaya North base metal prospects²”. A 12-hole follow-up drilling program to test the mineralisation to 100 metres depth has been partially completed, however very heavy rain in the district in the last few days has caused drilling to be postponed. “Initial results are now expected in early March”, he said. Broken Hill hosts the richest silver-lead-zinc ore body of its type globally, which has been mined continuously for over 120 years, producing around 200 million tonnes of high grade ore, valued at more than $80 billion.

The next generation of miners and explorers is discovering new mineralisation in nearby areas, using innovative exploration techniques.

ENDS

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