Castillo Copper Ltd (ASX:CCZ) has completed a share placement to institutional investors at 2 cents per share to raise $1.8 million, which is near the upper end of the targeted $1-2 million range.
The company received strong support from new key strategic institutional investors from Australia, Asia and New Zealand including the Merchant Opportunities Fund.
The strong support for the placement positions CCZ to accelerate work on the three copper pillars across Australia and Zambia, as part of the ongoing strategy to transform the company into a mid-tier copper group.
Material exploration upside
Castillo managing director Simon Paull said: “The board is delighted to have raised $1.8m from this fund raising exercise as it is towards the top end of the target range and clearly validates our three pillared strategic intent to transform CCZ into a mid-tier copper group.
“Our focus now is to accelerate development plans across the three pillars as the board has very ambitious objectives to make significant progress in 2020, given the three pillars collectively deliver material exploration upside.”
The current work status quo across the three pillars are as follows:
- Pillar I – Cangai Copper Mine in NSW: Awaiting metallurgy test-work on massive sulphide samples taken from along the line of lode;
- Pillar II – Mt Oxide project in Queensland: Seeking approval from the landholder to conduct a site visit to Big One & Arya prospects before year-end; and
- Pillar III – Zambia: Extensive soil / rock-chip sampling program now underway at the Mkushi project to identify priority targets to aid formulating the inaugural drilling campaign.
Use of proceeds
The proceeds from the capital raising will be used to accelerate the exploration programs across the three pillars in Australia and Zambia.
While CCZ is waiting on metallurgical test-work from massive sulphide samples taken from along the line of lode at Cangai Copper Mine, immediate priorities before year-end are two-fold:
- Send a team to Mt Oxide to conduct mapping and take soil samples at the Big One and Arya prospects; and
- Progress the extensive soil / rock-chip sampling program currently underway at the Mkushi project in Zambia, which will aid in delineating priority targets for the inaugural drilling campaign.
LSE secondary listing
The finalised prospectus for CCZ’s listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is expected to be lodged with the LSE listing team shortly, which will then be subject to the standard regulatory approval process.
