LONDON: Meridian Mining plc, a developer of the Cabaçal gold-copper project in Brazil, said Monday it has applied to list its ordinary shares on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and launched a fundraising to raise up to £25 million.**
Meridian Mining raises £22.5 million in UK placing
The company, which trades on the TSX under MNO and on the OTCQX as MRRDF, said admission would enable potential inclusion in FTSE UK Index Series and give London investors access to an advanced Brazilian gold-copper developer. Shares would be fully fungible between the LSE and TSX under the ticker MNO.
The proposed equity offering consists of an institutional placing targeting roughly £22.5 million and a separate retail offer for up to £2.5 million. The issue price of 92.0 pence per share represents a 5.6% discount to the TSX closing price on April 24.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority has approved the prospectus, which was published Monday. Admission and trading are expected at 8 a.m. BST on May 1.
Net proceeds from the fundraising, together with existing cash of £55.1 million, will fund development at Cabaçal, including long-lead item deposits, infrastructure, civil works and working capital. The company expects a definitive feasibility study in the fourth quarter of 2026, followed by a final investment decision.
Meridian’s 2025 pre-feasibility study outlined an open-pit operation with a post-tax internal rate of return of 61% and net present value of $984 million at a 5% discount, based on pre-production capital costs of $248 million. The project has a low all-in sustaining cost of $742 per gold-equivalent ounce and an initial 10-year mine life producing 141,000 gold-equivalent ounces annually.
Cabaçal, in Mato Grosso state, was previously operated as a small underground mine by BP Minerals and Rio Tinto in the 1980s and 1990s. The company holds a preliminary license and continues district-scale exploration along the 50-kilometer Cabaçal greenstone belt.
Stifel Nicolaus Europe is serving as sponsor, global coordinator and joint bookrunner, with Berenberg and Peel Hunt as joint bookrunners. The retail offer is expected to close at 11:59 p.m. BST on April 30.
Editorial Note
Meridian Mining’s dual listing announcement is strategically timed to capitalize on recovering precious metals sentiment and London’s demand for ex-US resource exposure. The 5.6% discount to TSX price suggests a pragmatic approach to ensure full subscription, while the retail offer component taps into the UK’s growing retail investor base for mining assets — a demographic increasingly courted post-London’s loss of major listings.
The inclusion of FTSE index eligibility as a stated goal is notable: passive fund flows remain a powerful liquidity driver, and Meridian’s free-float claim post-admission will be closely watched. The DFS timeline in Q4 2026 creates a clear news sequence for repeat search traffic.
However, risks flagged by independent analysts include jurisdictional permitting in Brazil (though the preliminary license is positive), execution of a $248 million capex project with current global cost inflation, and the relatively small retail offer size relative to institutional need. The 90-day lock-up for existing holders is standard but will be monitored for post-listing selling pressure.