Kokoseb gets N$1.1bn funding injection
Wia Gold has secured N$1.1 billion (A$92 million) in fresh funding to accelerate development of its Kokoseb Gold Project in Namibia, as the company pushes toward completion of a definitive feasibility study for what it describes as one of Africa's emerging large-scale gold projects.
The ASX-listed company said on Wednesday it had received binding commitments from new and existing institutional and sophisticated investors through a share placement priced at A$0.46 per share.
The placement involves the issuance of 200 million new fully paid ordinary shares and represents one of the larger recent capital raises in Namibia's gold exploration and development sector.
The offer price represents an 8% discount to Wia Gold's last traded price of A$0.50 on 15 May 2026, and a 5.9% discount to the company's 10-day volume-weighted average price of A$0.489.
CEO Henk Diederichs said the strong investor response reflected growing confidence in both the Kokoseb project and Namibia's broader mining sector.
"We are very pleased with the strong demand for this placement, particularly from high-quality offshore institutional investors who recognise Kokoseb's potential to emerge as one of Africa's next major gold mines," he said.
"This placement materially strengthens our balance sheet at a pivotal stage in the project's development and provides a clear pathway to advance key workstreams as we progress towards DFS completion and ultimately production."
The Kokoseb Gold Project is located within Namibia's northwestern Damara Belt, a geological region attracting growing exploration interest due to its gold potential.
The project emerged as one of Namibia's most significant recent gold discoveries after the company reported a rapidly expanding resource base supported by multiple drilling campaigns across the Kokoseb system.
Wia Gold has been advancing exploration, metallurgical studies, environmental work and development planning as it moves toward a definitive feasibility study targeted for the second half of 2026.
Funds raised through the placement will be directed primarily toward execution-readiness programmes, early works activities, pre-production capital expenditure, project studies, metallurgical test work, permitting, environmental and social programmes and continued regional exploration.
The company said part of the funding would also support broader project generation activities across its Namibian exploration tenure.
Argonaut Securities acted as global coordinator, joint lead manager and joint bookrunner for the placement. Tamesis Partners acted as joint lead manager, joint bookrunner and European selling agent, while Stifel Nicolaus Canada served as co-manager.
Settlement is expected on 26 May 2026, with allotment and quotation of the new shares scheduled for 27 May.
