Canada’s Surge Copper said on Thursday it had closed a C$4.5-million private placement with African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), boosting the South African mining group’s stake in the company to 19.9%.
ARM purchased 25.8-million common shares at C$0.175 each, Surge said. The funds will be used to advance the company’s Berg copper project in British Columbia, support exploration and provide working capital.
“This strategic placement forms part of the larger financing that was announced earlier this summer. With the completion of all components, Surge has raised approximately C$10.4-million in aggregate,” CEO Leif Nilsson said in a statement. “These funds will allow us to complete the prefeasibility study for the Berg project and achieve our environmental assessment preparedness objectives.”
The shares issued under the placement are subject to a four-month hold period.
The Berg project, located in central British Columbia, is described by Surge as a large-scale, long-life copper, molybdenum, silver and gold deposit with a June 2023 preliminary economic assessment showing a net present value of C$2.1-billion and a 20% internal rate of return.