No interest in Botala Energy on ASX debut

Botswana-focused coal bed methane player Botala Energy has experienced an inconspicuous debut on the ASX on Thursday after raising $5 million in an initial public offering.

No shares changed hands in the tightly-held company on its first day on the boards.

Botala holds a 70 per cent stake in the in the Serowe coal bed methane project in Botswana. The project hosts a contingent resource about 317 billion cubic feet of gas and a prospective resource of more than 8 trillion cubic feet.

Botala is chaired by WA mining veteran Wolf Martinick, who has retained a 23 per cent stake in the company. Sydney-based listed player Pure Hydrogen, a working partner of the company, holds a 19.9 per cent stake.

“We will soon drill four regional exploration wells and a pilot cluster of four wells around our best well to measure commercial gas flows,” Dr Martinick said in a letter to shareholders.

The company raised $5m via the issue of 25 million shares at an issue price of 20¢ through GTT Ventures in its initial public offering.