Centerra grabs 9.9% stake in Metal Energy

[Ben Graham]

Centerra Gold (TSX: CG) continued its investment spree in Canadian mining juniors this week, this time grabbing a 9.9% stake in critical minerals explorer Metal Energy (TSXV: MERG).

In a press release issued on Thursday, Toronto-headquartered Metal Energy announced a C$9.3 million financing, in which Centerra would participate. Under the offering, the company intends to issue 8.8 million flow-through shares priced at C$0.73 per share, plus 6.2 million common shares priced at C$0.45 per share.

Metal Energy’s stock opened at C$0.55, then surged by 15% to a 52-week high of C$0.60 apiece. This takes its market capitalization to approximately C$16.1 million ($11.5 million).

Funding for drilling

The proceeds of this financing, said Metal Energy, will fund drilling at the NIV copper-gold-molybdenum project, which is fully permitted and has several drill-ready targets. The program is set to begin next year, testing the heart of the porphyry system for the first time.

NIV contains two main claim blocks covering a total area of 215 sq. km in the Toodoggone district of north-central British Columbia. The property is located approximately 32 km south of Centerra’s Kemess mine complex.

“We are pleased to welcome Centerra Gold as a strategic investor in Metal Energy. Centerra’s involvement adds further technical depth to our work at NIV, which we consider one of the most compelling undrilled copper-gold porphyry opportunities in British Columbia,” stated Stephen Stewart, chairman of Metal Energy, in the press release.

In addition to NIV, Metal Energy also holds the Highland Valley copper-molybdenum-silver project in British Columbia, as well as the Manibridge nickel-copper-cobalt project in Manitoba.

Centerra’s growing investments

The acquisition of Metal Energy shares adds to Centerra’s growing investments across the junior mining sector.

Over the past year, it has acquired 9.9% stakes in a handful of Canadian explorers. These include Quebec-focused Midland Exploration (TSXV: MD) and Azimut Exploration (TSXV: AZM), Ontario-focused Dryden Gold (TSXV: DRY), and British Columbia-focused Thesis Gold (TSXV: TAU).