AuTECO Minerals Ltd (ASX:AUT, OTC:MNXMF) has received firm commitments to raise up to A$20 million through a placement of shares at an issue price of 8 cents a share.
The proceeds of the placement, which was supported by leading domestic and international institutions, will be used to fund the ongoing drilling campaign aimed at growing the high-grade gold resource at AuTECO’s Pickle Crow Project in Canada.
AuTECO recently increased the JORC resource at Pickle Crow by 500,000 ounces to 2.23 million ounces at 7.8 g/t.
It is worth noting that this was a 30% increase which was achieved in just six months.
“One of highest-grade gold resources”
AuTECO executive chairman Ray Shorrocks said: “The strong demand for the placement and the quality of the institutions which subscribed reflects our exploration success at Pickle Crow and the outlook for further growth.
“We have already created immense value for shareholders by recently adding more than half-a-million ounces to the resource in rapid time at a cost of less than A$20/oz and this raising will help ensure we continue to do that.
“AuTECO has one of the highest-grade gold resources greater than 2 million ounces in a Tier-one jurisdiction of any ASX-listed company and is actively exploring both around the old mine and regionally.”
Ongoing 50,000-metre drilling campaign
Since September 2020, AuTECO has added some 1.2 million ounces of inferred resource at an exploration cost of A$17.58 per resource ounce, upgrading its project to what it considers ‘world-class’.
AuTECO says the speed and low cost with which the resource has been grown highlights the quality and huge remaining growth potential of the Pickle Crow mineralised system.
The company’s extensive 50,000-metre drilling campaign is ongoing, with more assays expected to be returned in the coming weeks.
A regional exploration program is also ramping up, with three drill rigs assigned solely to a host of regional exploration targets with potential to add further ounces to the resource of the project.