White Cliff Minerals secures $5m shot in the arm through John Hancock-led placement

White Cliff Minerals raises $5m at an 8.5% premium to the 15-day VWAP
Strategic advisor John Hancock cornerstones placement, subscribing for $2.5m worth of shares
Proceeds will fund drilling at the Rae copper-silver project and exploration at the Great Bear IOCG-silver project

Special Report: White Cliff Minerals has received a clear vote of confidence after raising $5m through a placement of shares priced at an 8.5% premium to the 15-day VWAP.

The placement of 200 million shares priced at 2.5c each was cornerstoned by the company’s strategic investor John Hancock and received strong support from existing shareholders, Australian, UK, USA and European institutions as well as new Australian high net worth investors.

Subscribers will also receive one free attaching option exercisable at 4c each and expiring three years from the date of issue for every four shares subscribed for.

This funding ensures that White Cliff Minerals (ASX:WCN) is funded for maiden drilling at its Rae copper-silver project in Nunavut, Canada, that is due to begin in Q1 2025, and exploration at the Great Bear IOCG-silver project in the Northwest Territories.

“I would like to thank all stakeholders for their continued support. This funding demonstrates global acknowledgement of both our strategy and the quality of our assets, and achieving a premium to market of 8.5% confirms demand for the issue,” WCN managing director Troy Whittaker said.

“In my opinion these projects represent the best risk reward commodity-based investment opportunity, certainly in North America, and possibly the world at the current moment.

“The Rae copper-silver project and the Great Bear IOCG + silver are amazing properties and with this funding now completed we can focus on demonstrating this.”

John Hancock, a member of the legendary WA mining family, said the company now has a clear runway for further exploration.

“The capital raise has reduced uncertainty for existing shareholders and I welcome some close friends as new holders. I am also pleased to have underwritten the raise at a premium to last close and to see it completed successfully,” Hancock said.

Placement details

The placement price of 2.5c represents an 8.5% premium to the 15-day volume weighted average price of the company’s shares and 4% higher than the last traded price of 2.4c on October 4, 2024.

Hancock took up a full half of the placement and introduced a number of high net worth investors and international funds from the UK and US.

All placement shares will be issued pursuant to the company’s placement capacity under Listing Rules 7.1 and 7.1A, which does not require shareholder approval.

Other activity

WCN adds that results from the large-scale aerial geophysical campaign and remaining assay results from 2024 sampling program across the Rae are on target for delivery during the current quarter.

Initial assays from rock chip sampling – including 64.02% copper, 223g/t silver and 2.34g/t gold – confirmed a large-scale copper discovery at the project.

Multiple high-grade copper and precious metal veins were also identified, indicating the potential for very significant deposits of sedimentary-hosted copper.

This article was developed in collaboration with White Cliff Minerals, 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.