Queenston eyes bonus; China Solar deal has strings attached; Broadband closes sale; Cardero downsizes

By Kenneth Lim

Boston, Feb. 26 - Queenston Mining Inc.'s latest capital-raising exercise will give it a C$10 million "bonus" to further explore its properties, a company spokesman said.

Meanwhile, China Solar & Clean Energy Solutions Inc. raised $11.28 million in a stock sale that the company will use to complete an acquisition and pursue new ones.

Broadband Learning Corp. closed a C$5 million placement of 10% unsecured debentures, all of which was taken by existing investor CarEm Enterprises Inc.

A planned placement by Cardero Resource Corp. was downsized to C$8.25 million from C$8.8 million.

Queenston eyes C$10 million bonus

Canada's Queenston Mining said it will raise C$10 million from a bought-deal private placement of stock.

The company will sell 2.5 million flow-through shares at C$4.00 per share to a syndicate of underwriters led by Primary Capital Inc. with National Bank Financial, Wellington West Capital Markets Inc. and Evergreen Capital Partners Inc. The company also issued broker warrants exercisable at C$3.65 per share to the agents.

The placement price represented a 9.6% premium to the common stock's Monday closing price of C$3.65. Queenston common stock (TSX: QMI) closed at C$3.69 on Tuesday, up by 1.1%.

Proceeds will be used to accelerate the company's gold projects located in the Kirkland Lake gold camp.

Toronto-based Queenston is a gold exploration company.

Andreas Curkovic, an investor relations spokesman for Queenston, said the company had enough working capital for general purposes before the deal, but the additional cash will help the company explore its "exceptionally large land package in the Kirkland Lake gold camp."

"The deal is important," Curkovic said. "If you can raise the money and do some additional exploration given the exciting opportunities out there, it's just a good opportunity. But you know, they were comfortable to begin with, and with these additional funds, it's a nice bonus."

Curkovic explained that as a pre-production exploration company, Queenston was unlikely to pursue debt financing.

"Right now most of the exploration companies at this stage are going to be doing equity," Curkovic said. "The unique feature here is it's flow-through. In Canada it's a specific type of share that has the additional characteristic that allows for Canadian mining exploration companies to pass on exploration costs to their investors. Given that Queenston probably has more exploration than it can handle in the next quarter, flow-through shares are a very appropriate vehicle here in Canada."

Curkovic said the pricing of the deal was decided by the agents and expressed confidence that the deal will be completed.

"It's more or less a bought deal, so it's pretty comfortable to say there's confidence in doing this deal," Curkovic said. "Particularly with current market conditions, not so many bought deals are going to the marketplace."

China Solar raises $11.28 million

China Solar said it will sell $11.28 million shares of common stock in a private placement that includes future income targets for the company.

China Solar, which has headquarters in Lakeville, Conn., but operates mostly in China, said it agreed to sell 4.7 million shares of its common stock at $2.40 per share, an 11% discount to its Monday closing price of $2.69. China Solar common stock (OTCBB: CSOL) finished at $2.70 on Tuesday, up by 0.37%, or $0.01.

China Solar, a maker of solar-powered water heaters, coal-fired boilers and space-heating products, said it will use the proceeds to complete its planned acquisition of Shenzhen PengSangPu, for general working capital and for future acquisitions.

"We are very pleased to have completed this financing which provides us with additional capital to help fund our future growth, including our recently announced acquisition of Shenzhen PengSangPu," China Solar president and chief executive Deli Du said in a press release. "We are also quite pleased with the quality of the institutional investors that participated in our private placement and their confidence in our ability to carry out our strategic vision and become the leading Clean Tech energy solution provider in China."

A spokesman for China Solar declined to name the new investors.

As part of the placement deal, the company also agreed to give to the investors on a pro rata basis an additional 1 million shares for free if after-tax net income for the year ending Dec. 31, 2008 is less than $4.8 million. A further 1 million shares must be delivered if after-tax net income for the year ending Dec. 31, 2009 is less than $8 million.

China Solar must also hire a new full-time chief financial officer within 45 days of the deal's closing. Its current financial chief is Gary Lam, who was appointed in November.

Broadband closes placement

Broadband Learning announced the completion of its C$5 million private placement, with existing investor CarEm Enterprises Inc. the sole buyer.

Broadband said CarEm, which is controlled by former CIBC investment banker David Kassie, took the 10% convertible debentures due 2011 and convertible at C$0.10 per share. CarEm will also receive warrants for up to 30 million common shares exercisable at C$0.10 for two years, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval. The initial conversion price and warrant strike price represent a 100% premium to the current price of Broadband's common stock. Broadband shares (TSX: BLC) closed at C$0.05 on Tuesday.

Salt Lake City-based Broadband produces distance-learning content.

Also on Tuesday, Broadband announced an agreement with i-vu USA Inc. to install and operate a digital advertising media and consumer education delivery system to about 10,000 hair and beauty salons in the United States and Canada.

"These developments solidify the business opportunity that has been the focus of Broadband's efforts, together with its partner i-vu, over the past twelve months," Broadband chief executive Bob Dameron said in a statement. "Completing the first stage of the system is expected to make Broadband's operations cash flow positive in the current fiscal year and will allow Broadband to finance further growth while achieving significant revenue streams."

Cardero downsizes sale

Cardero Resource said it reduced the size of its two private placements of stock-and-warrant units to C$8.25 million from the earlier amount of C$8.8 million.

The company now plans to sell 5.15 million units, down from 7 million units, at C$1.10 each in a brokered offering for C$5.67 million. Each unit consists of one common share and one half-share warrant. Each whole warrant is exercisable at C$1.50 for two years.

The company also plans to sell 2,351,000 units, increased from 1 million units, with the same terms, in a non-brokered offering for C$2.59 million.

Cardero stock (TSX: CDU) closed at C$1.16 on Tuesday, down by C$0.07, or 5.69%.

Proceeds will be used to fund work programs on the company's Pampa El Toro Iron Sands and Pampa de Pongo Iron Projects in Peru, for exploration programs on its properties in Argentina and Mexico and for ongoing generative work and general working capital purposes.

Based in Vancouver, B.C., Cardero is a base and precious metal exploration company.

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