** Shares of Australia's Ballard Mining BM1.AX rise as much as 13.1% to A$0.56, their biggest intraday gain since August 7

** Gold explorer secures firm commitments to raise A$20.6 million ($13.39 million) via placement at an issue price of A$0.55 per share

** Placement price represents a 10% premium to stock's last closing price

** Says proceeds from the placement to be used to advance the current growth and development strategy at the fully permitted Mt Ida Gold Project in Western Australia

** Around 2.2 mln shares change hands, nearly 1.9x 30-day average

($1 = 1.5389 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Keshav Singh Chundawat in Bengaluru)

((Keshav.singhchundawat@thomsonreuters.com))