Exploration and development company Metallic Minerals has raised C$6.3-million from Australia-headquartered Newcrest Mining, which made a 9.5% strategic equity investment in the junior. Metallic issued Newcrest 15 838 593 units at a price of C$0.40 each.
The company said it would use the proceeds from the placement to advance exploration on, and for acquisitions related to, the La Plata copper and silver project, located in Colorado, US.
Metallic and Newcrest would also establish a technical committee to act in a non-binding advisory capacity to the board of directors, providing management access to Newcrest’s substantial technical expertise in similar mining operations.
“We are pleased to welcome Newcrest as a cornerstone shareholder and look forward to collaborating with their technical team to advance the La Plata project. Preparations are under way for a first phase resource expansion drill campaign targeted to start in June focused on extending the high-grade copper and precious metals mineralisation announced in February of this year,” said Metallic CEO and chairperson Greg Johnson.
The La Plata 2022 inaugural National Instrument (NI) 43-101 mineral resource estimate identified a significant porphyry copper/silver resource containing 889-million pounds copper and 15-million ounces of silver. Results from 2022 expansion drilling intercepted the longest and highest-grade interval ever encountered at La Plata and one of the top intersections for any North American copper project in the past several years.
An updated NI 43-101 resource estimate for the La Plata project incorporating these results is expected in the second quarter.