British mineral exploration company Erris Resources is to use £4m (€4.5m) in flotation proceeds to fund the development of zinc assets in Ireland and has said it is open to acquiring further mining licences here.
Erris has floated on London’s AIM market and will use the funds to develop gold projects in Sweden and its Abbeytown zinc exploration target in Co Sligo. A 5,000m drilling programme on that licence is due to start within the next few months.
The company is also looking at further acquisition opportunities elsewhere in Europe. A spokesperson said it is open to acquiring more Irish-based licences.
Meanwhile, energy infrastructure company Greencoat Renewables has made its first acquisition since its stockmarket flotation earlier this year.
It has acquired the Dromadda More wind farm in Co Kerry, from British owner Impax Asset Management for €88.4m. The 36MW, 11 turbine, farm is due to be commissioned in March.
Greencoat raised €270m in a dual listing in Dublin and London in July. It has also just agreed a €250m revolving credit facility with a consortium of five banks; namely AIB, BNP Paribas, Santander, Commerzbank and Royal Bank of Canada.
Greencoat has two Irish onshore wind farms in Cork and Tipperary and a stated aim of buying more. Davy expects it to add to its portfolio soon, with the capacity to add 38MW and 48MW of capability.
“In addition to dividend payments [Greencoat plans to pay a maiden dividend of 2.61c to shareholders, in respect of the second half of 2017, in March], further growth in assets looks likely,” said Davy’s Michael Mitchell.
Elsewhere, Eddie O’Connor’s Mainstream Renewable Power has secured $50m (€42m) in funding for windfarm projects in Chile. Conroy Gold and Natural Resources has raised £1m (€1.12m) through the placing of 7.8m shares. The funds will be used to develop its gold targets in counties Monaghan and Armagh.