Shares in Galileo Mining, which is backed by Mark Creasy and Chris Ellison, have closed up strongly on their first day of trading after the company raised $15 million via an initial public offering.
The company issued 75 million shares at 20 cents each, with Bell Potter Securities acting as lead manager to the offer.
Shares in Galileo finished up 58 per cent at 31.5 cents each today.
Galileo owns two projects in the Fraser Range and Norseman.
Mr Creasy, who founded the nickel and cobalt-focused company in 2003, has a 31 per cent interest in Galileo.
Mineral Resources founder Mr Ellison has a 4.1 per cent stake, while mining company Independence Group also owns a 4.9 per cent interest in the explorer.
The company is led by managing director Brad Underwood, who has worked directly for Mr Creasy since 2010, initially as a project manager and more recently as general manager of several exploration companies.
Non-executive chairman Simon Jenkins has been a director of law firm Price Sierakowski Corporate since 2005.
Mr Creasy was a director with the company until March this year.
“We are committed to working diligently towards development of the Norseman and Fraser Range projects with the objective of delivering value to our shareholders,” Mr Underwood said.
“From today’s listing on the ASX Galileo is now 100 per cent focused on getting on the ground at both of our projects.
“We are confident that both Norseman and the Fraser Range are highly prospective for additional resources as well as new discoveries.
“The company anticipates significant news flow as we advance our exploration activities on both projects and I look forward to keeping shareholders informed of our progress.”
The Norseman project is located adjacent to the town of Norseman and includes tenements prospective for cobalt.
The Fraser Range project covers two zones along the Fraser Range geological belt, which has a proven nickel mineralisation with the 2012 discover of the Nova-Bollinger nickel-copper-cobalt mine.
Mr Creasy played a key role in the Nova discovery, which has since been developed into a mine operated by Independence Group.