Linden Gold Alliance has completed the debt restructure it has with St Barbara, making St Barbara a majority shareholder in Linden and Linden debt free.
In mid-July, Linden Gold Alliance signed a non-binding term sheet to execute a revised debt restructure with St Barbara.
Through this, Linden transitioned its ore sale arrangement to Genesis Minerals, the new owner of the Gwalia gold mine through its acquisition of the Leonora assets in early July.
Under the terms of the debt restructure, Linden and St Barbara entered into a contingent payment agreement for two contingent cash payments to be payable.
The first payment involved $2.5 million in cash being paid upon 20,000 ounces of cumulative project ounces being mined from the Devon open pit on a 100 per cent basis pursuant to the joint venture with Matsa Resources.
The second payment included $2.5 million in cash being paid upon Linden making a new joint ore reserves committee (JORC) compliant discovery of 50,000 ounces at a minimum grade of 4.0 grams per gold tonne within three years. Alternatively, Linden could achieve total group JORC-compliant mineral resources of 500,000 ounces.
Both companies also entered into a share subscription agreement under the debt restructure, for the issue of ordinary Linden shares to St Barbara in two tranches.
The first tranche involved 14,056,250 shares being paid, which brought St Barbara’s holding in Linden to 19.8 per cent. St Barbara confirmed it has received the first tranche in Linden.
The second tranche will include a further 23,443,750 shares being paid, taking its holding in Linden to approximately 30 per cent.
The second tranche will be issued subject to a shareholder vote for which Linden has commenced preparation of an independent expert report and a general meeting.
All items of the debt restructure have now been satisfied, with Linden Gold Alliance managing director Andrew Rich thanking St Barbara for its support in transitioning from senior lender to major shareholder.
“We look forward to progressing Linden’s plans for its next phase of growth with the platform of a significantly improved balance sheet,” Rich said.