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Restructured, refinanced Redbank raring to go

“Redbank is expected to be well followed because its reincarnation has been engineered and spearheaded by the Michael Fotios-led Investmet.” – Barry FitzGerald in The Australian, 14 May 2013

Redbank Copper (ASX: RCP) has emerged from its long share market suspension with a strong bank balance, a substantial JORC resource and one of WA’s most successful mining entrepreneurs of recent times at the helm.

Michael Fotios, the geologist and company director who played a key role in the rise of WA gold miner Northern Star Resources, has taken a direct 10 per cent stake in Redbank and been appointed Executive Chairman. The Fotios-led investment syndicate Investmet is Redbank’s biggest shareholder with a 24 per cent stake.

Mr Fotios has led the restructure of Redbank, which saw the company raise $8.2 million at 0.5c a share. The restructure is aimed at positioning the company for rapid growth on the back of its Redbank Copper Project in the Northern Territory.

The end result is that Redbank shares have resumed trading, with the company now boasting almost $4 million in cash, no debt, a JORC resource of almost 100,000 tonnes of copper, a production plant and other key infrastructure.

Despite all this, the company has a market capitalisation of just $11.7 million, based on a share price of 0.5c.

Redbank is now poised to embark on an aggressive exploration strategy designed to double its inventory and underpin the start of production and cashflow.

Redbank’s prospects were the subject of today’s commentary from The Australian’s Resources Editor Barry Fitzgerald. In highly regarded weekly column, FitzGerald noted that Redbank’s return “has been made all that much easier” by the existing resource “plus lots of existing infrastructure that will make any eventual decision to get into production easier”.

FitzGerald also noted that Mr Fotios had been a key backer of Northern Star since its early days. “The hope is that Redbank could be a repeat,” FitzGerald wrote.

To read FitzGerald’s full column, click here

In Redbank’s announcement to the ASX today, Mr Fotios said the Company now had the three key ingredients required to generate shareholder wealth.

“The Redbank Project has a significant copper resource with outstanding potential for growth on the back of numerous known targets and greenfields exploration in swathes of highly prospective surrounding acreage,” Mr Fotios said.

“With the restructure complete, the Company now has the cash and the access to people with the skills and experience to ensure this outstanding opportunity is fully realised. We intend to secure a rig and start drilling as soon as possible, with the aim of growing the Redbank resource and undertaking early-stage economic assessments of the Redbank Project.”