Stillwater Critical Minerals Corp., [PGE-TSXV, PGEZF-OTC, 5D32-FSE] said Friday it has executed a definitive agreement for a strategic equity investment by Glencore Canada Corp., a unit of the Swedish metals trading giant Glencore Plc. It said the investment will take the form of a non brokered private placement financing with proceeds earmarked for exploration and development at the company’s North American nickel projects, and working capital.
Under the deal, Glencore has agreed to purchase 19.7 million units of Stillwater at 25 cents per unit, generating gross proceeds of $4.94 million. Each unit consists of one common share and 0.70 of a common share purchase warrant. Each full warrant will entitle Glencore to buy one common share at an exercise price of $0.375, providing up to an additional $5.2 million in additional funding if fully exercised.
The warrants are exercisable for three years from the date of issue and contain an acceleration provision that would take effect if the shares trade above $0.5625 per 20 consecutive trading days.
Upon closing, Glencore will control 9.99% of Stillwater’s outstanding shares. That number increases to 15.87% if the warrants are fully exercised.
“This represents a major step forward for Stillwater as we advance our flagship Stillwater West project with the vision of becoming a large-scale source of battery and precious metals that are now listed as critical in the U.S. and elsewhere,’’ said Stillwater Critical President and CEO Michael Rowley.
On June 22, 2023, Stillwater shares closed at 16.5 cents and currently trade in a 52-week range of 28 cents and 15 cents.
Stillwater, a company formerly known as Group Ten Metals, recently hired SGS Geological Services to complete an updated resource estimate for its Stillwater West project in Montana.
In a January 25, 2023, press release, the company announced a base case inferred resource of 1.6 billion pounds of nickel, copper and cobalt, and 3.8 million ounces of palladium, platinum, rhodium and gold in a constrained model totalling 255 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.39% total estimated recovered nickel equivalent (NiEq).
The Stillwater West project hosts a total of eight metals (nickel, cobalt, chromium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, iridium, and ruthenium) designated as critical by the U.S. government with a mandate to secure domestic supplies based on economic and national security concerns.
Stillwater West also contains significant copper resources.
The project consists of 14-multi-kilometre-scale exploration target areas along a 25-kilometre strike length. It is situated in the Stillwater Igneous Complex, which is recognized as one of the top regions in the world for platinum group elements, nickel and copper mineralization, alongside the Bushveld Igneous Complex and Great Dyke in southern Africa, which are similarly layered magmatic intrusions.
