Southern Cross Gold Consolidated (ASX:SX2) said certain of its directors exercised stock options to acquire about 7.8 million of the company's shares, generating roughly AU$5.5 million of proceeds for Southern Cross, according to a Friday filing with the Australian bourse.

Following the exercise, the directors together own about 12.6 million shares, or 4.7% of the company's issued shares on a non-diluted basis, representing a material increase in their direct beneficial shareholding, per the filing.

The directors plan to keep their holdings for long-term investment purposes.

Additionally, Springtide Capital, a company associated with Southern Cross shareholder Darren Morcombe, has exercised 1.5 million stock options at AU$1.20 per share.

Meanwhile, Morcombe has acquired an additional 950,618 shares via on-market purchases, increasing his aggregate beneficial shareholding by about 2.5 million shares to bring his total ownership of Southern Cross to 31.4 million shares, the company said.

Shares of Southern Cross were down nearly 4% in recent Friday trade.