Hercules Metals raises $31.5 million from upsized bought deal
Hercules Metals Corp. [BIG-TSXV, BADEF-OTCQB, COX-FSE] said it has raised $31.5 million from a bought deal private placement financing and will use the proceeds for exploration and development of its 100%-owned Hercules property in western Idaho.
The amount raised is ahead of an earlier $23.2 million target.
The company said the private placement consisted of 52.35 million common shares priced at 59 cents per share. Pursuant to the offering, the company issued 36.35 million common shares for proceeds of $21.4 million under the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption (the LIFE Offering) and 17 million shares at the offering price for gross proceeds of $10 million pursuant to available prospective exemptions other than the Listed Issuer Financing Exemption.
On Wednesday, Hercules shares were unchanged at 61 cents and trade in a 52-week range of 96 cents and 52 cents.
Hercules is an exploration company with a focus on developing America’s newest porphyry copper district in Idaho. The Hercules project, located northwest of Cambridge, hosts the newly discovered Leviathan porphyry copper system, one of the most important new discoveries in Idaho to date. The company said it is well positioned for growth through continued drilling, supported by a strategic investment from Barrick Mining Corp. [ABX-TSX, B-NYSE].
Barrick, as a pre-existing shareholder, has a participation right to maintain its pro-rata percentage ownership interest in the company under an investor rights agreement dated November, 2023 between the company and Barrick.
The Hercules Project is part of a larger 73-kilometre copper belt known as the Olympus Belt, which came under Hercules’ control through a strategic option agreement with Barrick Mining in July, 2025. Under the agreement, Hercules gained the right to earn a 100% interest in over 74,000 acres of unpatented mining claims [the Olympus claims] surrounding the company’s Hercules property and its flagship Leviathan porphyry discovery. The option gave Hercules the right to increase its original land position to over 100,000 acres. It said the Olympus Claim package covers numerous porphyry targets along trend from the Leviathan system, enabling Hercules to deploy its proprietary strategy of specialized mapping and deep-penetrating geophysics to identify porphyry targets for drill testing.
Under the agreement, Hercules pledged to make $8.0 million worth of staged payments, either through the issuance of shares of cash (at its election) over three years to Barrick or its designee. On exercise of the agreement, Hercules pledged to grant Barrick a net smelter return royalty of 1.0% on the Olympus Claims, which can be bought back and reduced to 0.25% for a one-time lump sum payment of US$7.5 million. Hercules said it would not issue any shares to Barrick or its designee that would result in the gold mining giant owning more than 19.9% of Hercules’ issued and outstanding shares.