PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Base metals developer Centaurus Metals will raise A$46.9-million in a share placement to advance its Jaguar nickel sulphide project in Brazil.

The company on Tuesday said it had received firm commitments from global institutional, corporate and sophisticated investors for the placement of more than 64.29-million shares, priced at 73c each.

The offer price represented a 13.6% discount to Centaurus’ last trading price and a 14.2% discount to the company’s five-day volume weighted average share price.

The shares will be placed in a single tranche under Centaurus’ existing placement capacity.

“We are very pleased with the strong level of interest received from existing shareholders and global institutional, corporate and sophisticated investors. This reinforces the strengths of the Jaguar asset and the opportunities it presents for the company and its shareholders as we advance a strategic partnering process with full control and optionality now held over the offtake from the project,” said MD Darren Gordon.

“We are making good progress with our objective to become one of the world’s next significant green nickel producers and the additional funding raised via the placement puts us in a strong position as we close in on the final investment decision process, planned for September 2024.”

“The capital raising also means we can continue to pursue a two-pronged development strategy at Jaguar with feasibility, development and strategic partnering activities progressing in parallel with ongoing exploration aimed at delivering further significant growth in the resource base. While the upcoming definitive feasibility study will be based on what is already a globally significant mineral resource estimate, we could be in a position to publish a much larger resource base by the time we press the button on financing and development – demonstrating a genuine long-lived nickel sulphide asset in global terms with enormous upside,” Gordon said.

“We remain confident of the fundamentals for nickel and particularly for Class-1 nickel given the strong demand outlook from the burgeoning electric vehicle, renewable energy and lithium-ion battery sectors. We have one of the most significant undeveloped nickel sulphide projects anywhere in the world, and we are looking forward to maximising its potential for our shareholders in the months and years ahead.”