IPO watch: QEM launches $5m vanadium offer, but the cash is urgently needed
Date: Aug 7, 2018
Vanadium is a medium-hard, steel-blue metal that is malleable, ductile and corrosion-resistant. Pic: Getty
Vanadium is one of the resources firecrackers of the moment, making it the perfect time to try to launch a new vanadium IPO — as QEM is doing.
The price of vanadium has rocketed in the past few years, bringing big returns for stocks such as King River Copper (ASX:KRC), Australian Vanadium (ASX:AVL) and Tando Resources (ASX:TNO).
Queensland Energy and Mining, which has taken “QEM” as its new moniker, reckons it’s a vanadium pocket rocket too — with an oil shale project on the side.
QEM is offering 25 million shares to raise $5 million for a $20 million market cap.
he cash appers to be urgently needed, however, with less than $20,000 cash in the bank at the end of December according to the prospectus.
“The entity’s ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on the success of the Public Offer,” the prospectus says.
Vanadium + oil = the most popular kid in town
QEM started in 2014 to develop a vanadium and oil shale project in the Julia Creek area of North Western Queensland.
The project has three wholly owned exploration permits covering 176 sq km and is near the Flinders Highway and the Great Northern Railway line, which connects Mt Isa to the Townsville port.
The Julia Creek project has an inferred mineral resource for vanadium pentoxide of 1,700 Mt at 0.34 per cent, and a contingent 3C petroleum resource estimate of 589 million barrels.
