Ariana Resources has confirmed its 58% owned subsidiary Venus Minerals is to list on AIM after discussions with investors.
Cyprus -focused Venus is proposing to raise up to £3mln from new investors, which will reduce Ariana’s stake to 35%.
Listing is planned for this quarter with marketing to commence imminently, said the company in a statement.
Venus will use the money for further exploration of its copper/gold assets, in particular for Cyprus-type Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) systems.
This will include the significant gold-rich zones at the Magellan project and the recent greenfield discovery of copper mineralisation at the Troulli prospect.
Kerim Sener, Ariana’s managing director, said: "With a very strong pipeline of copper-gold exploration and development projects in Cyprus and a cutting-edge exploration model, Venus is strategically placed to capitalise on the global deficit currently predicted in the years ahead for the copper market.
"We expect Venus to help advance and develop a series of high-quality copper projects to satisfy this demand."
Peter van der Borgh, Venus’s managing director, added: "The Venus project portfolio is the culmination of years of geological fieldwork and research, which has resulted in a proprietary, island-wide database of historical exploration, and innovative exploration models for target selection.”