Calidus Resources plans to plough up to $20 million into a pair of WA precious and battery metals projects after a successful capital raise. The company says the proceeds will fund an accelerated drill campaign at its Pilbara JV with Pirra Lithium and feed into a production ramp-up at its Warrawoona gold project, near Port Hedland.
The placement saw Calidus issue 29,850,747 shares at 67 cents each to professional and sophisticated investors, discount of a 12.4 per cent discount to the last close on August 9.
Management says the offer sparked strong demand from new and existing domestic and offshore shareholders.
In what will serve as a ringing endorsement of its exploration strategy, Calidus’ biggest shareholder, ASX-listed Alkane Resources scooped up $3 million in shares.
Some of the capital will be funnelled into plant expansion works at Warrawoona – an activity that could see the miner boost gold throughput at the operation by 20 per cent to about 100,000 ounces per annum.
The gold producer is already sitting on a 547,000-ounce reserve and 1.7-million-ounce resource base at the operation and is looking to bolster these figures through near-mine and regional exploration.
Over the past year, the company seemingly separated itself from a pack of aspiring Pilbara gold producers after pouring its first gold at Warrawoona in May.
Calidus is now primed to unlock even more gold in the region through exploring near-mine potential of Warrawoona’s structural trends, regional drilling and additional exploration across its nearby Blue Spec, Blue Spec East and Gold Spec projects.
Management says the locations offer high-grade opportunities that are open both down-dip and along strike.
A recent RC probe at Blue Spec East yielded a number of significant strikes at reasonably shallow depths including 52m at 1.40 grams per tonne gold from 22m, 20m going 1.41 grams per tonne gold from 44m and 10m going 1.95 g/t gold from 81m.
The company says the hits suggest it could develop an open-pit mine at the site.
Management believes even more gold could exist immediately west, at the aptly titled Blue Spec West project and will look to sink some of its newly minted funds into geophysical exploration.
Apart from reinvigorating its precious metal play, the company is also looking to advance its WA battery metals hunt.
Earlier this year, Calidus teamed up with Haoma Mining to form Pirra Lithium. The corporate tie-up was aimed at unlocking lithium potential in the Pilbara and saw the duo put together a package of more than 1000 square kilometres of highly prospective tenure.
The ground hosts a raft of outcropping lithium pegmatites over a combined 4.3km strike length. Rock chips bagged across the region delivered assays as high as 2.75 per cent lithium oxide.
Calidus now aims to follow up the solid sniffs and launch a maiden drill campaign at the site, plunging some of the funds from the share placement towards the program.
Management says it could also use some of the funds to demerge Pirra Lithium into a standalone vehicle by the end of the year.
Following the $20 million placement Calidus is armed to the teeth and primed to attack across a number of fronts – now to wheel in the drill rig and follow its maiden gold pour with some solid lithium strikes.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Matt Birney
