Alexis prices C$20 million private placement; gold offerings prominent even as prices fall

By Sheri Kasprzak

New York, Jan. 26 - Alexis Minerals Corp. led private placement action to close the week as gold offerings remained dominant in the market.

Even though gold prices retreated on Friday, a sellside market source said prices are expected to rebound in the coming week and that may be pushing offerings to a degree.

"Just because prices fall one day doesn't necessarily mean there isn't a demand for [gold placements]," the market source said. "They're [gold prices] poised for gains."

Still, he admitted, that doesn't do much for gold explorer's stocks in the present.

Gold prices gave up $3.70 to close at $644.60 per ounce Friday.

In the Alexis offering, the company plans to sell up to 20 million units for C$20 million in proceeds.

The offering sent the company's stock down 10%, or 11 cents, to end the session at C$0.99 (TSX Venture: AMC).

Volume took off with 7,312,975 shares traded compared with the average 456,286 shares.

The units include one share and one half-share warrant and the whole warrants are exercisable at C$1.35 each for two years.

A syndicate of underwriters led by Sprott Securities Inc. has a greenshoe for up to 5 million additional units.

The deal is set to close Feb. 13.

Proceeds will be used for exploration and development on the company's Lac Herbin deposit and for working capital.

Toronto-based Alexis is a mineral exploration company focused on gold and base metals.

Gold Fields stock dips

In secondary market news connected to the gold sector, Gold Fields Ltd.'s stock edged down on Friday, a day after the company announced its plans to proceed with a $1.2 billion stock deal.

The stock gave up 22 cents, or 1.3%, to end at $16.77, but gained 8 cents in after-hours trading (NYSE: GFI).

Volume remained elevated with 3,526,400 shares traded compared with the average 2,973,370 shares.

On Thursday, the stock fell $1.00, or 5.56%, to close at $16.99, putting on 3 cents in after-hours activity.

The terms of the private placement haven't yet been determined.

Proceeds will be used to repay debt incurred when Gold Fields acquired Barrick Gold Corp.'s 50% interest in the South Deep asset and its rights under the joint venture agreement with Western Areas Ltd.

Johannesburg, South Africa-based Gold Fields is a gold exploration company.

Explorator raises C$3.4 million

In other gold news, Explorator Resources Inc. wrapped a brokered and a non-brokered private placement for total proceeds of C$3,397,500 - an offering that sent the company's stock sliding more than 16.6% Friday.

In the deal, the company sold 10 million units on a brokered basis for C$2.5 million and 3.59 million units for C$897,500 on a non-brokered basis. The unit price is a 58% discount to the company's C$0.60 closing stock price on Thursday.

The stock sank by 10 cents to round out the day at C$0.50 (TSX Venture: EXO).

Blackmont Capital Inc. was the placement agent for this portion of the deal.

The company expects to close another C$602,500 portion of the deal by the end of January.

Proceeds from the non-brokered portion of the deal will be used to pay the cash portion of the company's acquisition of Maximus Resources Chile SA. The remainder will be used for exploration and for working capital.

Calgary, Alta.-based Explorator is a mineral exploration company focused on gold and copper projects.

Mediterranean's offering

Another gold explorer pocketed C$3,059,250 from an offering of units Friday.

Mediterranean Resources Ltd. sold 10,197,500 units of one share and one half-share warrant at C$0.30 each. Each whole warrant is exercisable at C$0.38 for two years.

Loeb Aron & Co. Ltd. was the lead agent for the deal.

Proceeds will be used for mineral exploration on the company's Tac and Corak gold properties in Turkey and for working capital.

Vancouver, B.C.-based Mediterranean is a gold exploration company.

Fushi closes $60 million deal

In other PIPE news Friday, Fushi International, Inc. announced the completion of a $20 million convertible notes offering and also a $40 million offering of senior secured floating-rate nonconvertible notes.

Citadel Equity Fund Ltd. bought both of the notes.

The 3% convertible notes are due 2012 and are convertible into common shares at $7.00 each.

The floating-rate notes bear interest at Libor plus 700 basis points annually and are also due 2012.

Merrill Lynch Far East Ltd. was the placement agent for the offering.

Fushi's stock ended Friday down 5 cents at $5.30 (OTCBB: FSIN).

Located in Dalian, China, Fushi makes bimetallic wire used in cable television and telecommunication networks.

Ember plans placement

Elsewhere, Ember Resources Inc. negotiated the terms of a C$15,000,060 private placement Friday.

The offering includes up to 5,660,400 shares at C$2.65 offered to KERN Partners Ltd. The price per share is a 6% premium to the company's C$2.50 closing stock price on Thursday.

On Friday, the company's stock edged down 2 cents to end at C$2.48 (Toronto: EBR).

Proceeds will be used to acquire the coal bed methane assets in the Acme area of Alberta. The remainder of the proceeds will be used for the company's 2007 capital program.

"The Acme acquisition establishes a complementary core property to our Fenn-Big Valley operation, expands our drilling inventory in this proven [coal bed methane] play and will allow us to apply our Horseshoe Canyon expertise to an undeveloped property," said Doug Dafoe, Ember's chief executive officer, in a news release from Friday morning.

Based in Calgary, Alta., Ember is a coal bed methane exploration company.

Petro-Reef closes deal

In the oil sector, Petro-Reef Resources Ltd. raised C$6.05 million from the sale of 5,260,870 units.

News of the deal came as oil prices jumped $1.19 Friday to close at $55.42 per barrel.

The units - comprised of one share and one half-share warrant - were sold at C$1.15 each.

The whole warrants associated with the deal are exercisable at C$1.75 each through July 25, 2008.

Primary Capital Inc. was the placement agent.

The company's stock gained 3.91%, or 5 cents, to close at C$1.33 (TSX Venture: PER).

Petro-Reef is a Calgary, Alta.-based oil and natural gas exploration and development company.

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