Kincora Copper (ASX:KCC) has locked in an expanded partnership with Fleet Space Technologies, which has also agreed to a “strategic investment” as part of a $1.27 million capital raising.
Fleet Space has agreed to undertake multiphysics surveys at the Wongarbon Project to identify and refine targets, and also has the right to earn a 20% stake in the project by drilling at least 2,000m.
A decision on whether to drill must be made by Fleet Space within six months of the completion of the multiphysics surveys. If Fleet Space chooses to go ahead, a joint venture will be formed.
Meanwhile, Kincora has received binding commitments for a two-tranche placement of 33.5 million shares at $0.038 each, with a 1:2 attaching option exercisable at $0.075 within two years, to raise $1.27 million.
The issue price is a 12% discount to the last closing price of Kincora shares on 9 October 2024 and a 16% discount to the 15-day volume weighted average price.
Fleet Space will contribute $400,000 to the capital raising to take an initial 4% stake in Kincora.
At the same time, a new arms-length investor will join the register and a major long-term shareholder, Big Ben Holdings, is participating in the raising to maintain its 12.9% stake.
Subject to shareholder approval, directors intend to purchase C$50,000 ($53,904) worth of shares in the second tranche of the placement.
Fleet Space and Big Ben Holdings have also agreed to participate in tranche two.
Morgans Corporate acted as lead manager to the placement.
The cash raised will be used for drilling and exploration at the Condobolin Project and to undertake ambient noise tomography (ANT) and gravity surveys at the Wongarbon Project, with target refinement ahead of Fleet Space’s right to drill to earn its interest.
The surveys will be undertaken using Fleet Space’s ExoSphere technology, which leverages Fleet Space’s satellite network in low Earth orbit, smart seismic sensors enabled with edge computing, and rapid data processing to generate real-time 3D mapping of mineral systems.
The Wongarbon Project, which is located in the interpreted extension of the Northern Molong Belt of the Macquarie Arc in New South Wales, has never been drilled.
Kincora CEO Sam Spring says Kincora and Fleet Space strongly believe the Wongarbon Project has the potential to be a new porphyry district and is a prime candidate for major discovery.
“Interestingly, Fleet Space recently did an ANT survey at Alkane’s Northern Molong Porphyry Project, which hosts the 14.7-million-ounce gold equivalent resources at Boda and Kaiser, and supports our belief that a number of the key controls for those deposits likely extend into Wongarbon,” Spring tells Mining.com.au.
Fleet Space has used the ANT survey technology before in the Macquarie Arc, having conducted “the world’s largest mineral exploration survey with ambient noise tomography” over 1,800km2 of Inflection Resources’ (CSE:AUCU) projects in the region.
This enabled the creation of a district-scale copper prospectivity map.
Fleet Space also undertook ANT and gravity geophysical surveys over Kincora’s Nyngan Project in July this year.
“The results of our recent multiphysics surveys at our Nyngan Project are pending, and the structure of this expanded partnership with Fleet Space provides unique alignment,” Spring says.
“We look forward to shortly advancing the first new exploration at the Wongarbon Project in almost 30 years, with a pathway for refining and drilling true and large-scale virgin targets.
“This is Kincora’s fifth recent partnership further demonstrating how we work with technical partners to apply industry leading exploration techniques to systematically advance, fund and de-risk our project pipeline of highly prospective porphyry targets.”
Fleet Space CFO Federico Tata-Nardini says the company has invested “very significantly” in the Macquarie Arc and established a unique knowledge of a number of the key porphyry systems and emerging discoveries.
“These agreements reflect a complete end-to-end deployment of ExoSphere, from target generation to drill testing on a project that offers new district scale potential and has never been drilled,” he says.
“We have completed five surveys, including recently at the Boda-Kaiser deposits.
“Why? Because we believe there are further Cadia-scale deposits to be found and that our Exosphere technology will play a fundamental role in uncovering the next one as we continue to enhance mineral systems knowledge worldwide.
“Wongarbon’s geological and geophysical setting is very favourably located in a highly prospective area of the Arc. It has clear analogues of the nearby porphyry complexes and existing tier one deposits.
“We believe the project is at the stage where we can add significant value and mutually share major discovery potential with Kincora.”
In early June, Kincora announced it had been granted an exploration licence for the 173km2 Wongarbon Project, located within the Wongarbon Magnetic Complex.
The complex is believed to be a similar system to that hosting the Cadia mine discovered by Newcrest and now owned by Newmont (NYSE:NEM), Evolution Mining’s (ASX:EVN) Cowal and Northparkes mines and Alkane Resources’ (ASX:ALK) Boda-Kaiser deposits.
The Wongarbon Magnetic Complex was previously identified as a new large-scale target by Newcrest but not drill tested at the time given the company’s focus on the Cadia Far East and Ridgeway discoveries.
Kincora is aiming to uncover another new intrusive complex or district within the Macquarie Arc.
Drilling is currently underway at three of Kincora’s projects, with the junior explorer’s partners funding up to 11,000m to test 13 copper-gold porphyry targets before the year is out.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: Kincora Copper
