Meteoric Resources receives $4m backing from Gerry Harvey, Tolga Kumova and Keith Biggs
Retail giant Gerry Harvey and high-profile investors Tolga Kumova and Keith Biggs have together pumped $4 million into Meteoric Resources (ASX: MEI) and its gold hunt in the Kimberley and copper-gold exploration in Brazil.
It is understood that Mr Harvey and Mr Biggs — thoroughbred owner and usually described as “butcher turned mining investor” — have also been buying Meteoric shares on market.
Two million dollars of the raising is coming from a syndicate led by Mr Biggs with Mr Kumova and Mr Harvey each subscribing for $1m dollars in new shares.
The placement saw the issue of 70,175,439 new shares at $0.057 per share, with one for two three-year unlisted option per new share, exercisable at $0.10.
Last week Meteoric reported that work at its Juruena copper-gold project in Brazil had detected the presence of a large, high-response chargeability anomaly believed to be strongly indicative of disseminated sulphides.
Geophysical studies during the year located the anomaly, which is over 2,000m long, 1,500m wide, less than 500m below the surface and open to the north-west.
An intense core of high chargeability occurs within the centre of the anomaly and presents an “obvious drill target” approximately 1.5km long and 800m wide.
Raising to finance new exploration programs
Meteoric says the new funds will finance surveys at both projects.
The money will also be used to pay for drilling early next year of the new giant anomaly in order to test for a “major” porphyry copper-gold discovery.
That will require a preliminary three-hole program of 3,000m diamond drilling.
Meteoric owns 100% of 24 tenements on the western end of the Alta Floresta Belt in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, the area home to more than 40 known gold deposits, including mines operated by Anglo American and Vale.
The company will also now extend drilling at old Butchers Creek open pit gold mine that operated in the 1990s.
The mine, part of Meteoric’s Palm Springs gold project in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, closed due to low gold prices at the time.
The new drilling will build on the high-grade results achieved in the maiden drilling program this year.
‘Some of the most consistent results of any ASX junior’
Meteoric Resources acquired the 12,000 hectare Palm Springs project earlier this year.
The old Butchers Creek shallow open pit produced 52,000 ounces at 2.1 grams per tonne.
The company has said there are 60 known gold occurrences along a 20km strike length.
Managing director Andrew Tunks said he was delighted with the support for the new raising and that, in spite of the global troubles of 2020, Meteoric’s exploration teams have delivered “remarkable” drilling results at both projects.
“It is my belief that in 2020 we have provided some of the most consistently exciting exploration news from any junior on the ASX,” he added.