Alicanto Minerals Ltd (ASX:AQI) has successfully courted investors in a capital-raising exercise to reel in $3 million to fund a continuing aggressive exploration program at the Sala Zinc-Silver-Lead Project in Sweden.
The mineral exploration company has received binding commitments from existing shareholders as well as new international and domestic investors and will issue 60 million fully paid ordinary shares at A$0.05 per share, a 2% discount to the August 29, 2022, closing price.
This equity raise comprises a two-tranche placement with $1.3 million to be raised under the first tranche and a further $1.7 million in the second tranche, which remains subject to shareholder approval at a meeting planned to be held in October.
Sizeable opportunity
Alicanto’s exploration at Sala, the largest active undeveloped zinc-silver deposit in Sweden, has resulted in a maiden resource, announced last month, of 9.7 million tonnes at 4.5% zinc equivalent containing more than 311,000 tonnes of zinc, 15 million ounces of silver and 44,000 tonnes of lead; reported at a 2.5% zinc equivalent cut-off.
Alicanto chairman Ray Shorrocks said: “The strong drilling results and the fact we outlined a JORC resource within a year of acquiring the project highlights the size of the opportunity at Sala.
"The simple fact is that the more we drill, the more mineralisation we find. In light of this success, we intend to accelerate our exploration program with the aim of unlocking the value of Sala as quickly as we realistically can.”
Alicanto is using modern techniques not previously employed at Sala to pursue the project and has developed a drill program that will continue to investigate the near-surface high-grade breccia zone as well as seeking to expand the definition of the current resource.
The high-grade breccia zone includes massive sulphide intersections including 4.7 metres at 24.4% zinc, 875 g/t gold and 3.7% silver.
Looking towards the east with the Sala Mine in the background illustrated in grey and the multiple areas of high-priority step-out growth targets marked 1-6 in red
High confidence
Alicanto’s confidence in Sala’s outlook is based on the following characteristics:
- A brownfields project that has produced in excess of 200 million ounces of silver at grades up to 7,000 g/t and which continues to demonstrate its ongoing prospectivity.
- Located in the Bergslagen region of Sweden, widely viewed as a Tier-1 jurisdiction based on its large mineralised systems and highly developed infrastructure. The region hosts a number of world-class base and precious metals projects, including Boliden’s Garpenberg mine and Lundin’s Zinkgruvan mine.
- An opportunity to bring best practice, modern exploration techniques to focus on drill-ready targets which have the potential to deliver strong results in the short term.
- Sweden’s long mining history and the recognition by the local mining industry and the value chains it supplies, of the importance of the role mining plays in the transformation to a sustainable society.
Plan view over the Sala Zinc-Silver Project showing the maiden resource