Marimaca Copper surges on $17.7M placement with institutional investors

[Redator]

Marimaca Copper (TSX: MARI) (ASX: MC2) surged by double digits on Wednesday after announcing a C$24.4 million ($17.7 million) private placement to fund its namesake project in northern Chile.

The offering comprises approximately 5.31 million common shares priced at C$4.60 per share, issued exclusively to institutional investors. Two of Marimaca’s cornerstone shareholders, Assore International Holdings and Ithaki, will buy most of the shares at 2.25 million each. A blue chip fund is expected to purchase the remaining portion.

The stock opened the trading day at C$4.88 apiece and closed at C$5.28 for an intraday gain of 10.2%. The rally takes the Toronto-based copper miner’s market capitalization to roughly C$534 million ($390 million).

Net proceeds from the offering will be used to advance the company’s 100%-owned Marimaca copper project in Chile’s Antofagasta region, hailed as one of the most significant copper oxide discoveries in the world’s top copper-producing nation in years.

Funds will also be allocated to support the company’s exploration efforts across its district-scale land package, which includes the 150-sq.-km Sierra de Medina property block located 25 km from the Marimaca deposit.

Feasibility study

Since its discovery in 2016, Marimaca has been consistently growing the project’s resource, which now totals 200 million tonnes in the measured and indicated categories grading 0.45% copper for 900,000 tonnes of contained copper, plus 37 million tonnes in the inferred category grading 0.38% copper for 141,000 tonnes.

According to a 2022 preliminary economic assessment, the open-pit mine is expected to produce 40,000 tonnes of copper cathodes annually during its first six years of operation, starting in 2028. Over the 12-year mine life, total recovered copper is estimated at 430,000 tonnes.

PDAC Video: Tailwinds push Marimaca Copper towards permit milestone this year

Marimaca is currently progressing the project through the definitive feasibility phase, with a technical report anticipated in the middle of this year.

The company is also aiming to obtain environmental approval from the Chilean government by year-end for the mine, for which copper extraction is designed around the less carbon-intensive heap leaching method.