JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Shares in Canadian junior White Tiger Gold plunged more than 50% in early Toronto trade after the company announced loan deals with its two biggest shareholders, and that it would pay new stock to them expanding its issued share capital by some 30%.

Because the TSX-listed company was “is in serious financial difficulty”, it applied to the bourse for an exemption from the requirement to obtain shareholder approval in the related party transaction, it said.

White Tiger agreed to loan $8-million from each of Kirkland Intertrade Corp. and Unique Goals International, it said.

Russian investor Maxim Finskiy, who holds 40% of White Tiger, owns Kirkland Intertrade and Sergey Yanchukov, a 13% shareholder of the firm, owns Unique Goals.

White Tiger said it would issue share purchase warrants to Finskiy and Yanchukov for existing loans they had made to the company, which become due Tuesday.

In a separate announcement, the company said HCF International Advisers CEO James McBurney would replace Daniel Major as CEO, with Major moving to the CFO’s role.

Yanchukov will also join the board, White Tiger said.

The company was formed through the merger of White Tiger and Century Mining last year.

Shares in White Tiger had shed 51% by 11:26 in Toronto to change hands at C$0.095. The stock was the most heavily traded on the bourse by the same time.