Canadian Copper secures $96 million for New Brunswick project
Canadian Copper Inc. [CCI-CSE] said it has secured $96 million in committed capital from metal streaming company OR Royalties Inc. [OR-TSX, NYSE] and Ocean Partners UK Ltd. to advance its 100%-owned Murray Brook project and Caribou Process plant.
That includes $12.3 million that is to be received upon closing this month.
The project financing represents a significant de-risking milestone as the company aims to become a near-term critical minerals producer in Bathurst, New Brunswick. A
Or Royalties will provide project funding of $38.3 million in exchange for a 20% life-of-mine payable silver and gold stream from the Bathurst Complex. Ocean Partners, a current 17% shareholder of Canadian Copper, will provide up to $48 million in project debt in exchange for 100% of the Bathurst Complex off-take rights.
In addition, OR Royalties (concurrently) and Ocean Partners (a future date, if needed) have committed to common share equity subscriptions into Canadian Copper for an amount of up to $10.5 million.
“Today’s project financing funds the PEA (preliminary economic assessment) capital expenditure requirements but also allows our growing development team to focus on securing remaining permit approvals and to deliver one of Canada’s few near-term critical mineral operations,’’ said Canadian Copper CEO Simon Quick.
The project financing is designed to achieve two primary objectives.
Provide the company with sufficient working capital to complete required Bathurst Complex work streams, including all material project tenders for April, staffing and the execution team, project engineering, permitting, and where possible, compressing the development schedule to first production. This financial capacity would also enable the company to acquire nearby deposits to further increase the Bathurst Complex mine life if they become available.
Secondly, it aims to create financial capacity for the company’s near-term development capital requirements, while maintaining optionality with other capital providers, mainly Canada’s critical minerals framework announced in the 2025 Federal Budget. This is illustrated by 55% of the total project financing being optional at the company’s discretion.
Canadian Copper shares advanced on the news, rising 4.84% or $0.03 to 65 cents. The shares trade in a 52-week range of 82 cents and 14.5 cents.
The brownfield nature of Canadian Copper’s 100%-owned Murray Brook deposit and the formerly operating and permitted Caribou Complex is expected to support an accelerated permitting and development pathway whereby first production is expected from the project by 2029. The Murray Brook project is located 60 kilometres west of the City of Bathurst. In October, 2024, Canadian Copper said it had secured the right to acquire the Caribou Complex, which is situated 13 kilometres east of Murray Brook. The permitted Caribou Complex (along with permitted tailings storage facility) would be used to produce copper, lead, and zinc concentrates with recoverable silver from Murray Brook mineralized feed material. A life of mine plant envisages an open pit with four development phases at an average production rate of 3,300 tonnes per day of mineralized material for 13.2 years. Average annual payable production includes 8.0 million pounds of copper, 47 million pounds of zinc, 783,000 ounces of silver and 10 millon pounds of lead.