Fireweed Metals Corp (TSX-V:FWZ, OTCQB:FWEDF) said its previously announced financing has been substantially oversubscribed due to strong investor interest, and the private placement has been increased to aggregate gross proceeds of up to $35 million.
The originally announced non-brokered private placement was for gross proceeds of up to C$27,523,500, which includes lead orders by members of the Lundin family and other key shareholders.
The Lundins’ participation in the offering makes them collectively Fireweed’s largest shareholder. Additional orders from other key shareholders are for in excess of $5 million.
The company said the offering will provide it with capital to make 2023 the most significant program ever completed on the company’s projects.
READ: Fireweed Metals reports high-grade massive sulphides in 2022 Macmillan Pass drill results
In a statement, Brandon Macdonald, Fireweed CEO, said: “It is a testament to the quality of Fireweed’s projects and the efforts of our team that we are able to attract backers like the Lundin family. No strangers to projects with district potential, the Lundins saw the value in Fireweed’s portfolio, particularly our flagship Macmillan Pass project, and have now given us one of our strongest endorsements to date. Together with additional backing from our largest shareholders this offering gives Fireweed the ability to deliver a 2023 program unconstrained from capital requirements. I am excited for the year ahead.”
The proceeds from the offering will be used for exploration and development of the company’s projects in northern Canada, and for general working capital purposes.
Adam Lundin commented: “The Lundin Family is excited to become a significant shareholder in Fireweed Metals. We have been impressed with the progress made to date by Brandon and his team. With the experience we have in the sector, opportunities like this seldomly come around and we view Fireweed has a district-scale opportunity. The recent discovery at Boundary Zone adds to the solid mineralization characteristics of the Tom and Jason deposits. We look forward to working with the company to maximize value for all stakeholders involved in this exciting story.”
The offering will consist of three parts now for gross proceeds of $34,926,240 as follows:
- 31,180,757 shares of the company at a price of C$0.74 per share;
- 4,877,818 flow-through common shares of the company at a price of C$0.88 each; and
- 6,300,000 flow-through common shares of the company at a price of C$1.20 per share through a charitable donation arrangement
The gross proceeds from the issuance of all flow-through and premium flow-through shares will be used on the company’s Zinc projects to incur Canadian Exploration Expenses (CEE) and will qualify as 'flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures' under the Income Tax Act (Canada). These expenses will be renounced by the company to the purchasers of flow-through and premium flow-through shares with an effective date no later than December 31, 2022, in an aggregate amount no less than the proceeds raised from the issue of both.
Closing of the offering is subject to certain customary conditions, including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals and acceptance of the TSX Venture Exchange.
All securities issued under the offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus a day following the date of closing.
Fireweed Metals is a public mineral exploration company on the leading edge of Critical Minerals project development.
The company has three projects located in northern Canada:
- Macmillan Pass Zinc-Lead-Silver Project: Fireweed owns 100% of the district-scale 940 square kilometre Macmillan Pass project in Yukon, Canada, which is host to the Tom and Jason zinc-lead-silver deposits with current Mineral Resources and a PEA economic study as well as the Boundary Zone, Boundary Zone West, Tom North Zone and End Zone which have significant zinc-lead-silver mineralization drilled but not yet classified as mineral resources. The project also includes large blocks of adjacent claims with known showings and significant upside exploration potential. The large 2022 drill program utilizing four drills is now complete and assay results are being announced as they are received and interpreted.
- Mactung Tungsten Project: The company has a binding Letter of Intent to acquire 100% interest in the 37.6 square kilometre Mactung Tungsten Project located adjacent to the Macmillan Pass Project. Mactung contains historic resources that make it one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped tungsten resources in the world. Located in Canada, it is one of the rare large tungsten resources outside of China. Due diligence and validation work on historic data as well as relogging and sampling of historic drill core is underway which should support a new mineral resource estimate.
- Gayna River Zinc-Lead-Gallium-Germanium Project: Fireweed has 100% of the 128.75 square kilometre Gayna River project located 180 kilometres north of the Macmillan Pass project. It is host to extensive critical minerals mineralization including zinc, gallium and germanium as well as lead and silver, outlined by 28,000 metres of historic drilling and significant upside potential. The 2022 field program of airborne LiDAR topographic surveying and ground geophysics is now complete and data is being interpreted toward defining 2023 drill targets.
-- Updates with details on upsizing --
Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com