Torque Metals has secured $4.25m to advance gold and lithium drilling at the Penzance project area
Share placement for $3.75m of the capital raising was heavily oversubscribed
Agreement reached with Topdrill for $500,000 worth of drilling
Special Report: Torque Metals has raised $4.25 million through a heavily oversubscribed share placement and a drill-for-equity commitment to advance gold and lithium drilling at its Penzance project near Widgiemooltha, WA.
The Penzance exploration camp extends over ~800km2 and consists of 12 mining, four prospecting and 26 exploration licences (seven under application) about 30km east of Widgiemooltha.
It is also along strike and a stone’s throw from Mineral Resources’ (ASX:MIN) Bald Hill lithium operation near Kambalda – the only processing plant in the emerging lithium district.
Torque Metals’ (ASX:TOR) recent exploration efforts have focused on two licences collectively known as the New Dawn lithium project, where it has identified multiple pegmatites.
An exploration target of 8-14Mt @ 1-1.2% Li2O has been defined while recent drilling has returned hits such as 13.11m @ 1.03% Li2O from 49.9m and 15.77m @ 1.01% Li2O from 255.9m.
Exploration funding
Existing shareholders and high net worth investors have now demonstrated their support for the company by heavily oversubscribing for a placement of ~28.85 million shares priced at 13c to raise $3.75 million.
This represents a 13.3% discount to TOR’s last closing price of 15c prior to the trading halt announced on 19 March.
Investors will also receive one free attaching option exercisable at 25c and expiring on 7 May 2026 for every two placement shares.
In addition, company directors have committed to subscribe for $65,000 worth of shares subject to shareholder approval.
The company has also reached a drill-for-equity agreement with Topdrill that allows it to satisfy up to 100% of drilling costs invoiced through the issue of TOR shares to a maximum value of $500,000.
“We have made great strides on our New Dawn lithium project over the short time since we acquired the project, and Torque’s confidence builds that New Dawn will ultimately present a great development opportunity,” TOR managing director Christian Moreno said.
“Our core objectives right now are to test more widely across the mining licences where a number of pegmatites present new drill targets. Infill drilling around the known mineralisation will assist in the conversion of our exploration target to a JORC mineral resource estimate.
“In parallel, I am delighted that the company has sufficient funding to get back to our high-grade Paris gold project. Our first ever round of diamond drilling at Paris last year returned a bonanza intersection of 1.2m @ 185g/t gold, within a broader intercept of 35m @ 14.12g/t gold from 157.85m.
“Moreover, Torque reported spectacular drilling success in 2023 with high grade gold intercepts along the 2.5km strike spanning from the historic Paris pit to the Observation prospect.”
Use of funds
Placement funds will be used by TOR to drive exploration at the New Dawn lithium and Paris gold projects.
In the coming months, this will include expanding the exploration footprint at New Dawn and diamond drilling at the Paris project to follow up high-grade results from 2023 activities.
Funds will also be earmarked for a maiden resource estimate for New Dawn, as well as a maiden resource for New Dawn.
A resource estimate and exploration target are also on the cards for the Paris gold project.
This article was developed in collaboration with Torque Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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