Great Western Exploration (ASX:GTE) will kick off drilling at the Oval copper-gold target next month with the junior explorer set to boost its coffers by $3.5 million.
The company has received binding commitments from professional and sophisticated investors to raise the total amount, which will ensure Great Western is fully funded for its high-impact exploration programs.
This includes drilling of both the Oval and the Oval South “Winu-style” intrusive related copper-gold targets within the Yerrida North Copper-Gold Project in Western Australia.
The Winu Project, which was discovered by Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) in 2017 and put the Paterson Province on the radar, is a copper-gold deposit located in the northern Pilbara region of Western Australia, about 320km east of Port Hedland.
Winu hosts total resources of 721 million tonnes @ 0.4% copper and 0.34g/t gold.
Rio Tinto actually identified the Oval target that Great Western is now exploring in the 1990s, but failed to intersect the electromagnetic anomaly.
Modern exploration undertaken in partnership between Great Western and Sandfire Resources (ASX:SFR) located the target below Rio Tinto’s drilling.
Great Western says the Oval target is an analogue of the giant Winu intrusive related copper-gold deposit, sharing key geological attributes.
The Oval and Oval South targets are now solely owned by Great Western, which is planning to drill four holes into the two targets.
The placement comprises the issue of 134.6 million shares at $0.026 each, along with one unlisted option, exercisable at $0.08 by 15 July 2025, for every new share issued.
The shares will be issued in two tranches, with Managing Director Shane Pike, executive Chairman Kevin Somes and non-executive directors Ross Williams and Grey Egerton-Warburton agreeing to subscribe for $460,000 worth of shares in tranche two, subject to shareholder approval.
Euroz Hartleys and Peloton Capital acted as joint lead managers to the placement.
The fresh cash injection will add to Great Western’s cash balance of $1.5 million as of the end of the June 2024 quarter.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Great Western Exploration and Rio Tinto