First Phosphate Corp. (CSE:PHOS, OTCQX:FRSPF) CEO John Passalacqua talked with Proactive about a strategic capital raise aimed at accelerating exploration and development at the company's phosphate resource.
Passalacqua confirmed that an existing investor is stepping in to "top up" their position, with potential participation from other shareholders.
The additional capital will help fund a 30,000-meter drill program at Bégin-Lamarche in Quebec, Canada, designed to support a block model and ultimately a feasibility study, which is expected by mid-2026.
Proactive: Hello. You're watching Proactive. I'm joined by First Phosphate CEO John Passalacqua. John, very good to speak with you. I hear you're doing a capital raise and a strategic investor is stepping in with funds. How are you going to use these funds to accelerate your near-term exploration and development goals?
John Passalacqua: Yeah. Thank you. So yes, we have an existing investor who would like to top up. And so, we have opened the capital raise just for this investor and potentially some other existing shareholders. Basically, these funds will help us along the road with our current drilling program, which is to do a 30,000-meter drill program, finish off the drilling so that we can build a block model for the resource. That'll be the end of our drilling, and then we can move on to our feasibility study at some point mid next year.
John, you’ve consistently highlighted First Phosphate’s vision of a fully integrated North American battery supply chain. How does this raise fit into that roadmap, and what specific milestones should investors look for next?
Yeah. So that's really important. I'm going to show you the battery that I have right here. So, we created these batteries — the first batteries in North America created from North American critical minerals. They were created using the phosphate from our property. Because of that, we need to get a resource into production as soon as possible so that we can then use that phosphate, which is now qualified, to make batteries for the North American LFP battery industry.
As you know, it's a pertinent need because China has threatened — just a few weeks ago — to cut off rare earth supplies, computer chips, but also technology and the components thereof. So, with what we have — this really pure igneous phosphate resource — the sooner we can get into production, the better. We're aiming for 2029.
With growing demand for lithium iron phosphate materials and recent interest in North American sources, how does this funding strengthen your competitive position in the broader LFP ecosystem?
Yeah, I mean, look, the company is already very well funded. We've got between $18 to $19 million in the bank right now. This funding just adds on to that. It gives us a longer and longer runway. So far, we’re fully capitalized until pretty much the end of 2026. This just gives us extra runway.
And it's great when it's coming from existing shareholders. Right? They support us, they're long holders, they want to become more long in the company. So it's just great to see that kind of support from existing shareholders.
Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style