The Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) share price is holding steady today.
Shares in the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) lithium stock closed yesterday trading for 11.0 cents apiece. In morning trade on Thursday, shares are changing hands for, well, 11.0 apiece.
For some context, the All Ords is up 0.7% at this same time.
While still trading far below its 2022 to 2024 levels, the beaten-down ASX lithium miner has been on the comeback trail since hitting one-year lows in April, with shares up 83.3% since the 9 April close.
Here's what's happening today.
Core Lithium share price steady on capital raising
This morning, Core Lithium announced that its share purchase plan (SPP) is now open.
Under the SPP, eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand can buy up to $30,000 worth of shares without paying any brokerage costs, commission, or other transaction costs.
Shareholders participating in the SPP will be able to buy new shares at an issue price of 10.5 cents each. That's 4.5% below the Core Lithium share price at yesterday's close. And it's the same price paid by institutional and sophisticated investors under the institutional placement the lithium miner announced last week.
If you missed that, on 28 August, the company reported it had received firm commitments from institutional investors to raise gross proceeds of $50 million.
The ASX All Ords lithium stock aims to raise up to $10 million under the SPP. However, management said the SPP could raise more or less than that amount, subject to their discretion.
The miner said it will use the funds raised from the SPP for working capital purposes at its temporarily mothballed flagship Finniss project, located in the Northern Territory.
What did management say?
Commenting on the institutional capital raising that saw the Core Lithium share price tumble 8.3% on 28 August, CEO Paul Brown said: "This funding milestone strengthens our balance sheet and provides the capital to advance the Finniss Lithium Project towards a positive Final Investment Decision."
Brown added:
Importantly, the equity raising makes a material contribution towards the pre-production capital requirement for Finniss by directly funding critical early works, including the BP33 box cut and decline, while also covering a portion of the operational readiness costs identified in the Restart Study.
This ensures we can progress underground development, accelerate operational readiness, and maintain flexibility as we finalise strategic funding solutions to meet the remaining capital needs. We remain focused on delivering value for all shareholders as we progress Core's growth and development objectives.
