The company ended the previous quarter with around A$900,000 cash, plus $1.4 million held in escrow, and while it has some cash coming in as deferred consideration for the sale of the Gold Links project in Colorado, it is not nearly enough to fund exploration and service its debts of $3.8 million, including to a chunk to chair Mark Johnson.

The company is on the hunt for around $8.85 million in new cash with a raising priced at 1c per share.

Johnson and managing director Stephen Baghdadi have committed to take up their full entitlements for $1.7 million and will underwrite up to $1.5 million of any shortfall.

The two men could end up with around 41% of the company.

California dreaming

Dateline hopes to cancel its debts, and will spend $3.15 million on further work at its Colosseum gold-REE project, while $500,000 will be allocated to the newly-acquired Argos strontium project (80%) - both in California. 

While capital markets have been finicky in recent weeks, Dateline hopes the results of recent drilling, such as 63m at 10.28 grams per tonne from 91m, including 23.5m at 21.8gpt that demonstrated grades well in excess of the 813,000oz at 1.2 grams per tonne resource will win shareholders over.

A new resource estimate is pending, and Dateline will also start testing for rare earths given Colosseum is near Mountain Pass, the only large-scale rare earths operation in the US.

Dateline purchased the historical gold operation from Barrick Gold for US$2.25 million in 2021, although most of the purchase price is due once a bankable feasibility study is completed.

Colosseum reportedly produced 344,000oz between 1988 and 1993.

Battery options

Dateline's strontium interests make it a rare bird on the ASX, but the explorer hopes it can build a business targeting ferrite permanent magnets in the electric vehicle space, with strontium being considered as a low-cost replacement for neodymium.

Argos is 100km from Colosseum and is described as the largest strontium deposit in the US.

The sale of Gold Links and the Lucky Strike mill could ultimately net up to A$12 million in cash payments and result in the novation of $17.75 million in liabilities.  

Dateline shares plunged 23% today to 1c, capitalising the company around $6 million.

The stock was trading around 8c 12 months ago.