New Age Metals rises on continued Sprott backing

[Ben Graham]

River Valley PGM project. Credit: New Age Metals

New Age Metals (TSXV: NAM) is raising C$3.5 million ($2.5 million) to fund exploration across its Canadian projects, with mining billionaire Eric Sprott committing more than half of that investment.

In total, the company will issue C$2.3 million in regular units and another C$1.2 million in flow-through units, priced at C$0.22 and C$0.26 each, respectively. The units all comprise one common share (in the case of the latter, flow-through shares) and one-half of a share purchase warrant. Under both unit categories, each whole warrant has an exercise price of C$0.40.

Sprott, currently its largest shareholder with a 23.2% holding, is expected to purchase C$2 million worth of units.

Shares of New Age Metals shot up by as much as 15% to a near 52-week high of C$0.32 on the news. By midday, the multi-commodity junior traded at C$0.30 apiece with a market capitalization of C$15.8 million ($11.4 million).

“We are extremely pleased with Mr. Sprott’s continued strong support of the company,” Harry Barr, chairman and CEO of New Age Metals, commented in a press release Thursday. “His investment, along with several new mining funds, will allow us to continue the development of our existing projects and for the company’s management team to be more aggressive with the acquisition of new projects.”

New Age’s portfolio is divided between three divisions: platinum group metals (PGMs), lithium and rare earth elements (REE) and gold-antimony. Its River Valley PGM project in Ontario is the most advanced, having completed a preliminary economic assessment in 2023 that showcased a multi-million-ounce resource. The lithium projects in Manitoba are drill-ready, with exploration funded by Australia’s Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN), while the gold-antimony projects are newly acquired, located near the producing Beaver Brook antimony mine in Newfoundland.

The company also has exposure to a fourth critical mineral with its investment in MetalQuest Mining (TSXV: MQM), which is developing a large iron ore project in Quebec.