New Funds Also Support Strategic Alliance With South 32
AusQuest (ASX:AQD) has successfully completed a bookbuild to raise up to approximately $3 million in a placement to support its exploration plans in Australia and Peru.
The company received support from sophisticated and professional investors through the issue of up to 143 million new shares.
Funds raised from the placement, together with the company’s existing cash reserves, will be applied towards identifying and advancing new acquisition and/or exploration opportunities both in Australia and Peru that might be of interest to the company’s strategic alliance partner (a wholly owned subsidiary of South32 Ltd), or retained as 100% owned AusQuest projects.
In Western Australia this will include increased exploration over the Moora and Morrisey Well Nickel-Copper Projects which are targeting magnetic signatures similar to the Julimar Ni-Cu- PGE discovery north of Perth, and further exploration over the company’s Paterson Cu-Au projects which are targeting magnetic anomalies close to major structures which have a similar expression to those associated with the Winu (Rio Tinto) and Havieron (Newcrest) discoveries further north.
Managing Director, Graeme Drew, said exploration activities over new copper projects in Peru will also be increased in order to advance them to a stage where they could be of interest to our strategic alliance partner or be compelling drill targets for the company. In particular this will include work within the Chololo – Ventura region close to Ilo, where the Company recently consolidated its title position over areas where historic work has identified potential for copper deposits.
“It was extremely pleasing to see the level of support the company received for the Placement,” Mr Drew said.
“This will now allow us to fast-track early-stage exploration programmes that we couldn’t do before, with the aim of providing quality drill targets for either our strategic alliance partner or ourselves. 2021 is now looking like a very active period for the company.”
The company also noted that drilling activity funded under the company’s Strategic Alliance Agreement (SAA), recently began at the Cerro de Fierro Copper Project in Peru with additional drilling programmes scheduled for completion over the next six to nine months at the Parcoy Copper Project (Peru), the Hamilton Copper-Gold Project (Queensland), and the Balladonia Copper-Nickel Project (Fraser Range) in Western Australia, all funded under the SAA.
