Vedanta to exclude base metals business from sweeping demerger
The group said it will consider the base metals business demerger at a later stage.
Fireweed Metals (TSXV: FWZ) has arranged a private placement to fund this year’s exploration in the Macpass critical minerals district of Canada’s Yukon Territory. The company currently holds the Macpass zinc-lead-silver project and the Mactung tungsten project within its 977 km2 land package.
The initial financing comprises the issuance of approximately 9.1 million common shares at C$1.10 per share and 11.6 million flow-through common shares issued through a charitable donation arrangement. This is expected to raise gross proceeds of C$30 million ($22 million).
Due to strong demand, however, the company on Friday upsized the offering to 12.7 million common shares and 16.1 million FT shares, for gross proceeds of C$47 million ($34 million).
Shares of Fireweed Metals were trading at C$1.15 apiece by 11:00 a.m. ET in Toronto for a market capitalization of C$172 million ($125 million). It traded between C$0.88 and C$1.77 over the past 52 weeks.
The Lundin family trusts, alongside other key stakeholders, are expected to participate in the placement and have previously indicated their intention to subscribe the full amount, the company said.
In a news release on Thursday, Fireweed’s CEO Peter Hemstead confirmed that the offering proceeds will primarily fund the company’s exploration initiatives for 2024, specifically an extensive 14,000-metre drilling and regional exploration program at Macpass.
“This funding enables Fireweed to execute this year’s planned program without the need for additional capital,” he said.
The Macpass project is one of the world’s largest undeveloped zinc resources, Fireweed said, hosting four mineralized occurrences — Tom, Jason, Boundary and End zones — plus other exploration targets over a 940 km2 area.
To date, only the Tom and Jason mineralized zones have resource estimates, totalling 11.2 million tonnes indicated at 9.61% zinc equivalent (6.59% zinc, 2.48% lead and 21.33 g/t silver) and 39.5 million tonnes inferred at 10.00% zinc equivalent (5.84% zinc, 3.14% lead and 38.15 g/t silver).
Next to the Macpass project is Fireweed’s newly acquired Mactung project, which hosts a tungsten discovery that dates back to the 1960s. A resource estimate in 2023 established Mactung as the world’s largest high-grade tungsten resource, with 41.5 million tonnes indicated at 0.73% WO3 and 12.2 million tonnes inferred at 0.59% WO3.
