Manhattan Gold has secured commitments for an A$4.5 million placement to fund more than 4,000 metres of drilling and related exploration at its Hook Lake project in Nunavut. The full raising remains partly conditional, with A$1.14 million requiring shareholder approval in November.
- A$4.5 million placement at $0.02 a share
- More than 4,000m of RC drilling planned at Hook Lake
- Jaws drilling follows broad, high-grade gold intercepts
- A$1.14 million second tranche requires shareholder approval
- Proposed one-for-four entitlement issue of unlisted options
A$4.5m Raising Targets Hook Lake Drilling
Manhattan Gold Corporation Limited (ASX:MHC) has lined up up to A$4.5 million to push its 2026 exploration program at Hook Lake into its next phase, with the bulk of the funds directed towards drilling around the Jaws gold system and other targets in Nunavut, Canada.
The placement will issue as many as 225 million shares at $0.02, a 20% discount to Manhattan’s last traded price of $0.025 on 10 September. The company said the raising was supported by existing shareholders, directors and management, as well as domestic and international professional and institutional investors. Clients of Viaticus Capital committed more than A$1.8 million.
Second Tranche Depends on Shareholder Approval
The headline A$4.5 million is not yet entirely unconditional. Tranche 1 comprises up to 168 million shares worth A$3.36 million under Manhattan’s existing placement capacity, while a further 57 million shares worth A$1.14 million require approval at the company’s 6 November annual general meeting. Directors and related parties have committed to subscribe for A$200,000 of that second tranche.
Subject to approval, the joint lead managers will also receive 37.5 million options with a $0.04 exercise price and three-year term. They are entitled to a 6% fee on gross proceeds, excluding the A$1.86 million subscribed by Viaticus Capital clients, Manhattan’s directors and management, and existing shareholders. That structure leaves investors with two distinct issues to track: the completion of the conditional placement and the eventual scale of the associated option overhang.
Jaws Drilling Builds on High-Grade Results
Manhattan plans more than 4,000 metres of reverse-circulation drilling, including further work at Jaws and first-time drilling at the Omega banded-iron formation prospect. The company also expects 14 drillhole assays from across Hook Lake, covering Jaws, the Spectre volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit and targets at Quantum, Lotus and Omega.
The Jaws campaign is being funded on the back of broad recent intercepts, including 41.15 metres at 4.66 grams per tonne gold from 83.82 metres, with a higher-grade 7.62-metre section at 18.67 grams per tonne, and 74.67 metres at 1.61 grams per tonne from 21.34 metres, including 15.24 metres at 5.35 grams per tonne. Manhattan says the 2026 drilling has highlighted mineralisation across a 220-metre northeast-southwest strike length.
The company also cites a historical estimate of 3.4 million tonnes at 2.38 grams per tonne gold, or about 285,000 ounces, at Jaws. That figure is expressly described as a foreign estimate rather than a JORC 2012-compliant mineral resource. Manhattan says the underlying information needed to assess it is unavailable and that it remains uncertain whether the estimate can ultimately be reported under the JORC Code.
Assays and Entitlement Options Set the Next Tests
Beyond drilling, the proceeds will support project-scale till and channel sampling, geophysical surveys and consulting work. Till sampling is intended to cover the strike extensions of Jaws and the Omega and Moonraker areas, with gold and pathfinder elements such as arsenic, antimony and tungsten to be considered alongside magnetic survey interpretations.
Manhattan also intends to offer eligible shareholders one unlisted option for every four shares held, with a $0.001 subscription price, $0.025 exercise price and six-month term. The proposal is yet to be finalised, and its record date is expected after the annual general meeting. Nearer-term markers are the settlement of Tranche 1, the 6 November approval vote and whether the pending assays can extend the Jaws picture beyond the results already released.
Bottom Line?
The funding gives Manhattan room to test Jaws and several untested Hook Lake targets, but the investment case now turns on conditional capital, incoming assays and whether exploration can support a compliant resource estimate.
Questions in the middle?
- Will shareholders approve the A$1.14 million second tranche and related director participation at the November meeting?
- Can the next 14 assays confirm that the broad, higher-grade Jaws mineralisation continues across the wider system?
- Will further drilling and sampling provide enough reliable data to reassess the historical Jaws estimate under JORC 2012?