AfriTin said it had raised £3 million before expenses through a direct subscription of 99.6 million ordinary shares at 3p per share, a discount of 9% to the closing price on May 17.
The shares will represent about 15% of AfriTin's issued share capital and are expected to start trading on the London Stock Exchange on May 29.
The company has also entered into a standby working capital facility of R30 million (US$2.1 million) with 9.5% shareholder Bushveld Minerals, which has agreed to the 12-month facility. AfriTin said it was repayable after 12 months and bore a R300,000 fee, with interest accrued at 12.5%pa, payable quarterly, on drawn amounts.
Under the agreement, in the event of AfriTin defaulting, Bushveld has the right to elect to convert any outstanding loan amount into AfriTin ordinary shares at a 20-day volume weighted average price discounted by 10%.
CEO Anthony Viljoen said the pilot plant was about 90% complete, with the financing allowing for commissioning and commercial production by the end of the June quarter.
It has been modifying the plant's original circuit to allow for increased capacity and the addition of a magnetic separator to allow for production of tantalum concentrate.
AfriTin is also carrying out a resource drilling programme to validate tonnages and grades for production of a JORC-compliant mineral resource.
The company's shares (AIM:ATM) fell 6.06% Wednesday to 3.1p.
