Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd on Monday said it has now received its full placing proceeds of £1.2 million.

The South Korea-focused gold development company said 37.8 million new shares were issued so that the subscribers to the placing would receive the full 60.8 million shares, including 23.0 million shares being transferred from Momentum Resources Ltd, as part of the pledge share pool announced earlier in March.

Bluebird Merchant said Momentum Resources will receive no consideration, interest or other benefit for the transfer of the pledged shares. It will issue Momentum Resources 23.0 million shares either upon publication of a new prospectus or when there is sufficient headroom.

The funds will be used for proof-of-concept production at its Kochang gold and silver mine in South Korea, to expand the in-country team, and for general working capital.

Bluebird Merchant is focused on restoring both the Kochang and Gubong mines to production. Ahead of restoring Gubong, which is the larger of the two, it intends to undertake ‘relatively inexpensive’ proof of production at Kochang.

In early March, Chief Executive Officer Colin Patterson said: ‘The next 12 months are going to be extremely busy once we receive the temporary mountain use permit, which will allow operations to commence on the ground and head towards production.

‘We also look forward to news from the Philippines, where we recently secured a joint venture with a local Philippine company with decades of experience in mining, to advance our high grade Batangas gold project. The joint venture agreement means we have a free carry on the project to mine construction, allows us to focus on South Korea.’

Shares in Bluebird Merchant were down 2.6% to 1.85 pence each in London on Monday afternoon.

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