Osisko Metals raises $3.5 million for Gaspe Copper, Quebec
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Osisko Metals Inc. [OM-TSXV] said it has raised $3.5 million from a private placement offering that will be used to fund exploration at the Gaspe Copper Project in Quebec.
The private placement consisted of 8.75 million common shares that will qualify as flow through shares under the Income Tax Act (Canada) and Taxation Act (Quebec) at a price of 40 cents per flow-through share. The amount raised includes the exercise in full of the agents’ option.
News that the financing has completed came after the close of trading on July 12, 2023, when Osisko shares closed at 22 cents and currently trade in a 52-week range of 38.5 cents and 17.5 cents.
Osisko is a Canadian exploration and development company with a focus on critical metals. The company is currently in the process of acquiring from Glencore Canada, a 100% interest in the past-producing Gaspe Copper mine near Murdochville in the Gaspe peninsula of Quebec.
Gaspe Copper (formally a subsidiary of Noranda) mined a porphyry copper/skarn complex and produced copper concentrate continuously from 1955 until the mine closed in 1999. During that period, 150 million tonnes of average grade 0.87% copper, with minor, molybdenum, gold and silver credits were extracted initially from the Needle Mountain and Mount Copper open pits.
That material was supplemented with feed from the extensive high-grade underground skarn mineralization and the massive sulphide skarn and manto underground deposits.
Osisko said it has developed an internal model that suggests there is a strong economic case for re-opening Gaspe Copper. It is aiming to test that assumption by focusing initially on the remnant mineralization in the existing pit. By drilling and re-evaluating the remaining resources, it has said it plans to validate the model and close the transaction with Glencore.
“We strongly believe this large-scale asset could become a core component of Quebec’s critical mineral development strategy that aims to provide essential metals for global decarbonization initiatives,’’ said Osisko Chairman and CEO Robert Wares.
The company recently launched a 30,000-metre drill program with the objective of refining sulfide/oxide ratios in the deposit and upgrading the mineral resource estimate to measured and indicated categories by year-end.
Wares said the company would also launch a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on the Mount Copper Expansion Project and looks forward to rapidly developing the asset in partnership with Glencore Canada.
The move comes after Osisko recently announced an initial inferred resource estimate for Mount Copper, a key part of the Gaspe Copper Project in Quebec.
Mount Copper is estimated to host an inferred resource of 456 million tonnes of 0.351% copper. At 1.41 million tonnes (3.1 billion pounds) of contained copper, that amounts to the largest untapped copper resource in eastern North America.