FireFly Metals Ltd (ASX:FFM, TSX:FFM, OTC:FFMFF) has secured commitments for a A$180 million institutional equity raising and plans a further A$10 million share purchase plan (SPP), providing up to A$190 million to accelerate development and resource growth at its Green Bay Copper-Gold Project in Newfoundland, Canada.
The money will be used for early project works, procurement of long-lead equipment, technical studies and an extensive drilling program as FireFly works towards a final investment decision by mid-2027.
The A$180 million raising comprises a A$150 million Australian institutional placement and a Canadian bought-deal financing worth about C$29.6 million, or A$30 million.
Both components are priced at A$1.78 per share, with the Australian placement involving around 84.3 million new shares and the Canadian financing covering 16.8 million shares.
Funding development and resource growth
FireFly intends to use the money to advance Green Bay following the release of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), which outlined the potential for a large-scale, long-life copper operation.
Funding will go towards underground development and early works, including drilling platforms, ventilation and electrical upgrades, as well as surface infrastructure.
The company will also continue underground and regional exploration targeting extensions to the existing resource, parallel lodes, deeper mineralisation and new discoveries across the broader Green Bay district.
Technical work will include a definitive feasibility study on the 1.8 million tonnes per annum base-case development scenario and a pre-feasibility study evaluating a larger 4.6 million tonnes per annum alternative.
Managing director Steve Parsons described the strong institutional demand as reflecting Green Bay's standing among undeveloped copper projects and said the raising leaves FireFly well-funded to advance development while maintaining its multi-rig resource growth program.
“The strong demand for the raising reflects Green Bay’s status as one of the world’s best undeveloped copper projects.
“This status was confirmed by the robust production and financial metrics contained in the Preliminary Economic Assessment, which demonstrated a strong cashflow outlook and rapid
payback period.
“We are now very well-funded to progress towards project development while maintaining a multi-rig drilling program aimed at ongoing resource growth”.
Share purchase plan to raise another A$10 million
Eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand will also be offered the opportunity to participate in a non-underwritten SPP targeting up to A$10 million.
Shareholders will be able to subscribe for up to A$30,000 of new shares at A$1.78 each, the same price as the institutional placement.
The SPP is expected to open on September 4 and close on September 23, with shares scheduled for allotment on September 30.
Green Bay copper-gold project
Green Bay hosts measured and indicated resources of 60.2 million tonnes at 2.43% copper equivalent for 1.46 million tonnes of contained copper equivalent, along with an inferred resource of 23.5 million tonnes at 2.51% copper equivalent for a further 592,000 tonnes.
FireFly is advancing the project towards development, with the PEA outlining a potential pathway to annual copper production of around 100,000 tonnes.