June 26 (Reuters) - Shares of Sinda fell 10% in their New York Stock Exchange debut on Friday after the Mexican silver miner raised $213 million in its U.S. initial public offering.
The San Miguel de Allende, Mexico-based company's stock opened at $10.80 apiece, below the $12 offer price. Sinda sold 17.75 million shares in the IPO within the marketed range of $11.25 to $13.25 apiece.
A growing number of mining companies have tapped capital markets in recent months to capitalize on high metal prices
and fund their capital‑intensive operations.
The pricing of the IPO below the midpoint of the marketed range "may be a sign that the IPO window for mining firms is only open selectively, and that pre-production miners do not get a free pass because their value depends on whether they can execute over several years," IPOX Research Associate Lukas Muehlbauer said.
Founded in 2012 as Minera Adularia Exploración, Sinda is an exploration-stage firm with operations in Mexico, the world’s largest silver mining country. Its flagship asset, the Sinda Property, is located in the silver belt of Guanajuato.
Sinda is a portfolio company of metals investor Thomas Kaplan's investment firm Electrum Group. Kaplan, an Oxford-educated historian turned metals expert, has over 30 years of experience in the resources sector.
The large primary silver asset has the potential to become a globally significant mining operation, according to Sinda, which is targeting initial production at the project by 2031.
"The company has a high-risk, high-reward profile, because the location and experienced backing are appealing, but they do not eliminate the uncertainty that comes with exploration-stage mining companies," Muehlbauer said.
Sinda’s silver-gold deposit was discovered beneath a clay cover that had concealed it from generations of explorers, Executive Chairman Daniel Muñiz Quintanilla said in a statement on Friday.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas and Sahal Muhammed)
