New World Resources gets $14m backing to take Antler copper by the horns

• New World Resources receives firm commitments for a pivotal $14m cap raise
• Company welcomes North American institutional investors as new register cornerstones
• Antler Copper project can now be advanced towards DFS after pre-feasibility study demonstrated a lucrative operation

Special Report: New World Resources has received firm $14m in financial backing to advance its Arizona-based Antler copper project towards a final investment decision.

The placement received firm commitments and was strongly supported by key cornerstone investors who share New World Resources’ (ASX:NWC) belief in a pathway to production.

The raising will be done by issue of around 700m new NWC shares at an offer price of 2c a pop.

Proceeds are marked for securing federal and state permits and approvals while advancing exploration/site activities, corporate/financing initiatives, and a definitive feasibility study.

New World managing director Nick Woolrych said the company was pleased to welcome a number of prominent North American institutional investors in a pivotal raising.

“The strong response to this equity raising reflects the growing recognition that New World now has a clear development pathway ahead of it to advance one of the highest-grade copper assets in the USA into production,” Woolrych said.

“Our development strategy is unfolding against the backdrop of a strengthening copper market, a robust outlook for copper and critical minerals generally, and a growing recognition of the vital importance of developing new sources of domestic critical mineral supply in the USA.

“The planets are aligning for New World and we are looking forward to completing our permitting, delivering a DFS and commencing development of one of the most exciting new copper assets.”

Members of the NWC board and senior management have also committed to jump in for around $640,000 under a second tranche pending shareholder approval.

The Red (metal), White, and Blue

Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office promised a change in fortune for stalled US mine developments, and there are few ends of the country which excite the majors more than Arizona.

A pledge to ramp up the domestic mining of critical minerals in his recent address to Congress and Executive Order to secure America’s domestic copper supply, the potential imposition of tariffs on imports of the red metal and streamlined permitting of development-ready projects suggest the planets will align to support new developments in the US.

Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) and BHP (ASX:BHP) together hold the massive but complex Resolution copper project in the Grand Canyon State, while Antler stands out as the most advanced of the Aussie juniors.

The brownfields site was shuttered in the 1970s due to low prices, but NWC’s pre-feasibility last year outlined a lucrative operation which could produce at little over a US dime a pound after co-product credits, one of the lowest cost copper operations in the world.

The red metal is currently trading at around US$4.75 a pound on US exchanges, but a scarcity of major new discoveries means as demand continues to grow and deficits expand that could look very conservative.

Copper explorers who kept the faith and drilled through the cycles are beginning to sniff a long-promised boom, with NWC confident in the progress it’s made to date at Antler.

A recent application for a mine plan of operations under the National Environment Policy Act has come back with a determination that the Bureau of Land Management will evaluate it under an environmental assessment.

That has a 12 month approval timeline, opening the door for full permitting by early 2026 with the potential to start early development works in the second half of 2025 once a key State air quality permit is secured.

This article was developed in collaboration with New World Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.