Stillwater Critical Minerals (TSXV: PGE) has welcomed Glencore Canada as a major investor to help advance its portfolio of nickel exploration and development projects in North America.
The parties have executed a definitive agreement for a private placement, under which Glencore would purchase C$4.94 million worth of Stillwater units, each priced at C$0.25, containing one common share (priced at C$0.20 at time of announcement) and one share purchase warrant.
Upon completion, Glencore would hold a 9.99% equity interest in Stillwater (on a non-diluted basis).
Should all warrants contained in the units be exercised, Glencore’s stake would then rise to 15.87%, giving Stillwater approximately C$5.2 million in additional funding. In addition, the global miner has the right to participate in future financings to pro-rata position in Stillwater.
“This represents a major step forward for Stillwater as we advance our flagship Stillwater West project with the vision of becoming a large-scale source of battery and precious minerals that are now listed as critical in the US, and elsewhere,” Stillwater CEO Michael Rowley said in a statement.
The Stillwater West project is located in Montana’s Stillwater district, considered one of the world’s largest and highest-grade PGE (platinum group elements)-nickel-copper regions. It is adjacent to the high-grade PGE mines held by South Africa’s Sibanye-Stillwater with over 14 million oz. of past production.
A mineral resource estimate update for Stillwater West earlier this year defined 1.6 billion lb. of nickel, copper and cobalt and 3.8 million oz. of palladium, platinum, rhodium and gold within a constrained model totalling 255 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.39% nickel equivalent.
The 2023 resource, which represents a 62% increase over the project’s inaugural estimate, is contained within five deposits in the 9-kilometre central area of the project, all of which are open along strike and at depth.
According to the company, there are multi-kilometer scale geophysical targets and metal-in-soil anomalies to indicate strong expansion potential at Stillwater West. Untested anomalies and earlier stage targets extend across much of the 32-kilometre-long property.
“There are very few projects globally, and especially located within the United States, that offer the combination of grade and scale in a producing district that we see at Stillwater West,” Rowley said.
“We are now booking drills and crews for our 2023 drill campaign with a focus on expansion of the high-grade nickel-copper sulphides identified in our past campaigns. We look forward to announcing further details in the coming weeks, along with the start of drilling.”
Shares of Stillwater Critical Minerals surged 18.2% by 11:45 a.m. EDT on the investment announcement. The Vancouver-based miner has a market capitalization of C$33.5 million ($25.4m).
