EMP raising $9.75 million for lithium exploration
EMP Metals Corp. [CSE-EMPS] has arranged a non-brokered private placement financing that is expected to raise $9.75 million.
EMP is an exploration company with a portfolio of Saskatchewan lithium brine properties held in partnership with ROK Resources Inc. [ROK-TSXV].
The company said the offering will consist of up to 13.5 million hard dollar units (the HD units) priced at 40 cents per unit, generating gross proceeds of $5.4 million; and up to 7.5 million Saskatchewan flow-through units (the FT units) priced at 58 cents per unit, potentially generating up to $4.35 million in gross proceeds.
Each HD unit will consist of one common share of the company and three quarters of one common share purchase warrant. Each FT unit will consist of one flow-through common share and three-quarters of one warrant to be issued on a non-flow-through basis. Each warrant will be exercisable to acquire one additional common share at an exercise price of 60 cents per warrant share for two years from the date of issue.
Part of the net proceeds from the sale of the HD units will be used by the company for drilling wells and other exploration work on the EMP project in Saskatchewan.
Gross proceeds from the sale of FT units will be used by the company to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses that will qualify as flow-through critical mining expenditures under the Income Tax Act (Canada), and eligible flow-through mining expenditures, as defined in the mineral exploration tax regulations (Saskatchewan) related to the EMP project.
Details of the financing were released after the close of trading on October 24, 2023, when EMP shares closed at 48.5 cents. The shares are currently trading in a 52-week range of 69 cents and 23 cents.
EMP is a lithium exploration and development company with a focus on large-scale resources using direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology. EMP in partnership with ROK currently holds 77,700 hectares of subsurface dispositions and strategic wellbores in southern Saskatchewan.
In a press release in August, 2023, EMP said it has entered into a research collaboration with the University of Regina that will focus on tracing the source of lithium in subsurface waters within the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin – a 1.4 million square kilometre area that includes southwestern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan, Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and the southwest corner of the Northwest Territories.
The company has agreed to support the work of University of Regina geologist Dr. Leslie Robbins by providing $30,000 in financial support over two years. In conjunction with EMP’s financial support, Dr. Robbins team has received a $60,000 Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Alliance grant.