AIM-listed Botswana Diamonds has taken on a share placing with existing as well as new investors, in order to raise £370,000 by distributing just over 67.2-million new ordinary shares at a placing price of 0.55p per placing share.

The earnings will fund exploration activities during the current year in Botswana and South Africa as well as supply more working capital for the company.

Each placing share has one warrant attached with the right to subscribe for one new ordinary share at 0.6p per new ordinary share for a period of two years, starting from 23 January 2019, Mining Review Africa reports.

Since concluding a mining contract with Palaeo Minerals, which includes both bulk sampling activities and potentially future full-scale mining services at Thorny River, Botswana Diamonds is moving toward producing diamonds at the Thorny River project in South Africa.

Botswana Diamonds and its partner Vutomi have been taking several options into account to advance the Thorny River property ever since a technical and economic evaluation report had been released in June 2018.

Botswana Diamonds chairman John Teeling said: “We are confident that Thorny River could be the first diamond producing project for Botswana Diamonds. A royalty bulk sampling/mining model means that we have no capital expenditure apart from a limited in-fill drilling programme in early-2019.”