General
Moly, Inc. (the "Company" or “General Moly”) (NYSE MKT and TSX:
GMO), a U.S.-based molybdenum mineral development, exploration, and
mining company, announced that it has signed definitive agreements with
a group of accredited investors related to a private placement of units,
consisting of senior convertible notes and warrants, ("Private
Placement") for gross proceeds of $8.535 million. The Private Placement
is expected to close on or around December 26, 2014 with proceeds from
the offering to be used for maintenance of the Mt. Hope Project, the
Liberty Project, and general corporate purposes.
Bruce D. Hansen, Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are gratified by the
demand for this Private Placement despite a challenging market, which
speaks to the high quality and the advanced stage of our Mt. Hope
Project, along with the inherent tangible value of the Company’s assets.
We are pleased with the terms of the financing, which provides the
Company with a bridge to a project financing for Mt. Hope while
minimizing the dilution to our shareholders. Of significance, one $5
million block was purchased by an investor with significant experience
in the molybdenum sector, and General Moly’s executive management team
and board of directors supported the Private Placement by investing over
$2 million in aggregate. We believe that the investment made by our
management team and board of directors provides a strong statement of
support for the future prospects of General Moly.”
The Company sold 85,350 units for $100 each. Each unit consists of one
senior convertible note due 2019 (the “Notes”) with principal value of
$100 and 100 five-year warrants to purchase the Company’s common stock
at $1.00 per share. The Notes, which are senior to any General Moly debt
obligations, mature on December 26, 2019. The Notes convert into common
stock at a 20% discount to the greater of (i) the trailing 30-day volume
weighted average price (“VWAP”) at the date on which a Notice of
Conversion is issued and (ii) the trailing 30-day VWAP as of December
22, 2014. Each Note will convert into a maximum of 100 shares per note,
resulting in the issuance of 8,535,000 shares, or 9.3% of shares
outstanding. General Moly’s executive management team and board of
directors who participate in the offering will be restricted from
converting at a price less than $0.32, the most recent closing price at
the time that the Notes were issued. The Notes are mandatorily
redeemable at par plus the present value of remaining coupons upon (i)
the availability of cash from a financing for Mt. Hope and (ii) any
other debt financing by the Company. In addition, 50% of any proceeds
from the sale of assets cumulatively exceeding $250,000 will be used to
prepay the Notes at par plus the present value of remaining coupons. The
Company has the right to redeem the Notes at any time at par plus the
present value of remaining coupons. The Private Placement was negotiated
by independent members of General Moly’s board of directors, none of
whom are participating in the transaction.
Mr. Hansen concluded, “The Company remains focused on Mt. Hope
financing, and is increasingly encouraged by the progress made.
Negotiations on investment agreement terms, sponsorship requirements,
and indicative loan terms associated with a $700 to $750 million debt
and equity package, are continuing to advance. We have strong interest
from multiple private Chinese industrial companies and a large Chinese
bank in advancing the fully permitted, construction-ready project. These
potential Chinese partners take a long term view, and believe as we do,
that the molybdenum price should strengthen by the time Mt Hope will
start producing.”
In addition to the Private Placement, General Moly has taken further
recent actions to improve it liquidity position. The Company reduced
ongoing spending requirements resulting in annual savings of over $2
million per year. Additionally, the Company is engaged in ongoing
discussions with POS-Minerals to utilize the $36 million of General
Moly’s restricted cash to fund ongoing Mt. Hope related expenditures.
The Units were sold in the Private Placement pursuant to Section 4(a)(2)
of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The
Units have not been registered under the Securities Act, or the
securities laws of any other jurisdiction, and may not be offered or
sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption
from such registration requirements. This press release does not
constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase,
Units in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation would be
unlawful.
General Moly is a U.S.-based molybdenum mineral development, exploration
and mining company listed on the NYSE MKT (formerly the NYSE AMEX) and
the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol GMO. The Company’s primary
asset, our interest in the Mt. Hope Project located in central Nevada,
is considered one of the world's largest and highest grade molybdenum
deposits. Combined with the Company’s second project, the Liberty
Project, a molybdenum and copper property also located in central
Nevada, our goal is to become the largest pure play primary molybdenum
producer in the world. For more information on the Company, please visit
our website at http://www.generalmoly.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements herein that are not historical facts are “forward-looking
statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, as
amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by
such sections. Such forward-looking statements involve a number of risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected, anticipated, expected, or implied by the Company.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, metals
price and production volatility, global economic conditions, currency
fluctuations, increased production costs and variances in ore grade or
recovery rates from those assumed in mining plans, exploration risks and
results, political, operational and project development risks, including
the Company’s ability to maintain required permits to continue
construction, commence production and its ability to raise required
project financing, adverse governmental regulation and judicial
outcomes, including appeal of the Record of Decision and appeal of water
permits and estimates related to cost of production, capital, operating
and exploration expenditures. For a detailed discussion of risks and
other factors that may impact these forward looking statements, please
refer to the Risk Factors and other discussion contained in the
Company’s quarterly and annual periodic reports on Forms 10-Q and 10-K,
on file with the SEC. The Company undertakes no obligation to update
forward-looking statements.
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