Centerra Gold grabs 9.9% stake in Metal Energy

Centerra Gold (TSX: CG) continued its investment spree in Canadian mining juniors this week, this time grabbing a 9.9% stake in critical minerals explorer Metal Energy (TSXV: MERG).In a press release issued on Thursday, Toronto-headquartered Metal Energy announced a C$9.3 million financing, in which Centerra would participate. Under the offering, the company intends to issue 8.8 million flow-through shares priced at C$0.73 per share, plus 6.2 million common shares priced at C$0.45 per share.Metal Energy’s stock opened at C$0.55, then surged by 15% to a 52-week high of C$0.60 apiece. This takes its market capitalization to approximately C$16.1 million ($11.5 million).Funding for drillingThe proceeds of this financing, said Metal Energy, will fund drilling at the NIV copper-gold-molybdenum project, which is fully permitted and has several drill-ready targets. The program is set to begin next year, testing the heart of the porphyry system for the first time.NIV contains two main claim blocks covering a total area of 215 sq. km in the Toodoggone district of north-central British Columbia. The property is located approximately 32 km south of Centerra’s Kemess mine complex.“We are pleased to welcome Centerra Gold as a strategic investor in Metal Energy. Centerra’s involvement adds further technical depth to our work at NIV, which we consider one of the most compelling undrilled copper-gold porphyry opportunities in British Columbia,” stated Stephen Stewart, chairman of Metal Energy, in the press release.In addition to NIV, Metal Energy also holds the Highland Valley copper-molybdenum-silver project in British Columbia, as well as the Manibridge nickel-copper-cobalt project in Manitoba.Centerra’s growing investmentsThe acquisition of Metal Energy shares adds to Centerra’s growing investments across the junior mining sector.Over the past year, it has acquired 9.9% stakes in a handful of Canadian explorers. These include Quebec-focused Midland Exploration (TSXV: MD) and Azimut Exploration (TSXV: AZM), Ontario-focused Dryden Gold (TSXV: DRY), and British Columbia-focused Thesis Gold (TSXV: TAU).Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com