Orbite Aluminae’s plant in Cap-Chat, Que., seen here under construction.
Orbite Aluminae Inc., the once high-flying Quebec junior miner promoting a patented technology that extracts alumina from clay, has abruptly yanked its public offering of units in the company.
Montreal-based Orbite said on Thursday it will not go ahead with the public offering of convertible debentures announced on Monday.
The decision was made following the 20-per-cent drop in Orbite's shares in heavy trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange Tuesday, company spokesman Marc Lakmaaker said.
The shares were up about 3 per cent Thursday morning, at 33 cents. The stock was trading at more than $3.50 in the fall of 2012.
"When something like that happens, when you experience very unusual volatility on the markets, you have to take a step back and say, 'What's going on here?'" Mr. Lakmaaker said.
At a 5-per-cent interest rate, the units were believed to be on favourable terms, he said.
The offering, which was to close next Monday, was for 8,000 to 15,000 units at $1,000 each for minimum gross proceeds of $8.5-million to $15.5-million.
Net proceeds were to be used to fund the company's alumina production facility at Cap-Chat, Que., in the Gaspé region.
Orbite also said on Thursday it is putting off the special shareholders' meeting scheduled for April 2 related to the Series Y subscription rights. Another date will be announced soon, it said.
The meeting was rescheduled in order to continue seeking superior options to the $30-million Y Series financing, Mr. Lakmaaker said.
"We've got a number of things we are looking at."
The company has had a roller-coaster ride on the stock market over the years as it struggled with a series of challenges, including steep cost increases and delays in the development of technology it says is much cleaner and cheaper than the traditional Bayer process for the extraction of alumina from bauxite.
Alumina is the key material in the manufacture of aluminum.
Orbite needs the additional financing it is currently seeking to complete the production facility, Mr. Lakmaaker said.
Commercial production is being targeted for the third quarter of this year, he added.
Bertrand Marotte