EXPLORATION company Glencar plans to raise £12 million in a placing and open offer of new shares. Part of the proceeds will be used to purchase an additional 15.7 per cent shareholding in the Wassa gold project in Ghana. This will bring its holding up to a controlling 61 per cent.

The placing involves 12.6 million new ordinary shares at 53p per share. This compares with a market guide price of 52p/58p and with the market price of 65p when Glencar last month announced its intention to raise funds to fund the Wassa purchase. The placing has already been completed, mainly with British institutions and a small amount with Irish and US institutions.

The open offer involves 11.59 million new ordinary shares, on the basis of two for every seven held at 53p per share. These have been underwritten but shareholders can apply for more than their entitlement if the issue is not fully subscribed. EMGF, a 9.8 per cent shareholder in Glencar, has undertaken to take up its full entitlement.

Moydow, the other major shareholder in Wassa, with a 39.1 per cent stake, has decided not to take up its entitlement.

The extra shareholding in Wassa will cost £7.5 million. This will leave Glencar with £4.5 million to carry out a feasibility study on the Wassa project and to carry out an exploration drilling programme.

Wassa owns 90 per cent of Satellite Goldfield which has a mining lease over a 57 square kilometres area in the western region of Ghana. The Ghanaian government has the of her 10 per cent. A report carried by SRK indicated a resource of 1.5 million ounces of gold and a mineable reserve of 850 000 ounces.