Avenira (ASX: AEV) has secured a $7.56 million strategic investment from majority shareholder Hebang Biotechnology to progress its Wonarah phosphate project in the Northern Territory.
The investment, in which Hebang will acquire 1.08 billion shares priced at $0.007 each, will boost its equity holding in Avenira to 49%.
Hebang has also agreed to provide Avenira with an unsecured drawdown loan facility of $7.56m to be repaid on completion of the placement or after the date of the first drawdown.
Avenira will use funds from the investment to advance its Wonarah phosphate project, which is located between Tennant Creek and Mount Isa and has a resource base of 812 million tonnes.
Wonarah is considered Australia’s largest high-grade phosphate project and Avenira plans to develop it as a direct shipping ore (DSO) operation based on a simple open-cut mining operation with processing facilities onsite.
Avenira intends to supply premium-quality products from Wonarah—including DSO, lithium ferro phosphate (LFP), thermal phosphoric acid (TPA) and yellow phosphorus—into the electric vehicle, agricultural and industrial chemical markets.
The latest investment follows an initial $4.5m two-tranche placement to Hebang in July, via the issue of a total of 750 million Avenira shares at $0.006 each.
Hebang also provided a $2.79m unsecured loan facility in September, to be repaid from placement funds.
That investment gave Avenira the opportunity to accelerate the downstream development of yellow phosphorus and deliver a key element in the production of LFP for next-generation batteries.
Avenira deputy chair Brett Clark welcomed the latest strategic investment by Hebang, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sichuan Hebang Biotechnology Corporation.
“We are delighted that our principal shareholder has chosen [to make] a further investment in Avenira,” he said.
“This enhanced co-operation with Hebang provides us with the opportunity to accelerate Wonarah towards the targeted delivery of ore to port before year-end and substantially enhance the value of the significant resource.”
Avenira’s board announced in February that it would prioritise the Wonarah project with a phased development strategy focused on disciplined capital allocation and sustainable growth.
Key phases of the strategy would include early revenue generation from a Stage 2 DSO operation and completion of a feasibility study for a Stage 3 operation aimed at unlocking Wonarah’s economic potential by upgrading to commercial-grade products, enhancing scalability and viability.
“This strategic shift will allow the board and management to refocus their efforts on a new development pathway that provides Avenira the opportunity for early revenue generation in the second half of 2025,” Mr Clark said.
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