Duketon Mining Ltd (ASX:DKM) has surged to a new 12-month high of 30 cents on news of a $4 million investment by mid-tier gold producer St Barbara Ltd (ASX:SBM).
The acquisition of about 14.5 million shares in a placement at 27.5 cents a share, is a show of confidence in Duketon’s gold and nickel strategy near Laverton in Western Australia.
St Barbara now holds a 12.3% stake in the junior explorer.
Accelerating targeted exploration
The investment will provide Duketon with additional funding to accelerate targeted exploration activities across its tenement package.
Duketon’s managing director Stuart Fogarty said: "Having a company of the calibre of St Barbara investing is an outstanding result for Duketon.
“It is a strong endorsement of the quality of the exploration projects and people within Duketon.”
Latest in string of St Barbara investments
The investment is the latest in a series by St Barbara, which has operations in Western Australia and Papua New Guinea.
Other recent investments have been in Australian explorers ABM Resources NL (ASX:ABU), Catalyst Metals Limited (ASX:CYL) and Peel Mining Limited (ASX:PEX).
Duketon’s flagship Duketon project comprises a large landholding over the Duketon Greenstone Belt in Western Australia.
More than 32,000 tonnes of nickel and 8 million ounces of gold have been discovered within this belt over the last decade.
Company well-funded
The company remains well funded with more than $7.6 million in cash and investments.
Fogarty added: “This allows Duketon to continue to aggressively explore the extensive gold and nickel prospects within our 100%-owned tenure.”
Duketon recently declared a maiden mineral resource estimate for the Lancefield North deposit at the Duketon project.
The deposit, which is about 5 kilometres north of the historical Lancefield Mine, contains 1.9 million tonnes at 1.5 g/t gold for 96,000 ounces.