Torque Metals has secured A$25 million from institutional investors to expand drilling and regional exploration at its Ritz Gold Project in Western Australia. The placement will lift pro forma cash to about A$32.7 million, but adds roughly 21% to the existing share count and leaves the company’s million-ounce ambition dependent on exploration results.
- A$25 million institutional placement at A$0.19 per share
- Approximately 131.6 million new shares, equal to 21% of existing shares
- Pro forma cash of about A$32.7 million before transaction costs
- Funds target Ritz drilling, South Kalgoorlie exploration and DHEM surveys
- Current Ritz resource stands at 351,000 ounces grading 3.1g/t gold
A$25 million placement funds Torque’s next exploration push
Torque Metals Limited (ASX:TOR) has raised the money it needs to turn its ambitious Ritz Gold strategy into a much larger field program, securing firm commitments for a A$25 million institutional placement. The funding will support extensional and infill drilling at Ritz, regional exploration across the South Kalgoorlie Gold Camp and geophysical work intended to identify further mineralisation.
The placement brings in approximately 131.6 million new shares at A$0.19 each, a 7.3% discount to Torque’s last close of A$0.205 and a 4.4% discount to its 15-day VWAP. The issue represents about 21% of the company’s existing shares on issue, making the capital raise material for shareholders as well as for the exploration program it finances.
Ritz drilling targets growth beyond the 351,000-ounce resource
Torque said the immediate priority is to drill around its Paris, HHH and Observation deposits, where it aims to expand the current Mineral Resource Estimate and improve geological confidence. The Ritz resource totals 351,000 ounces at 3.1g/t gold, comprising 147,000 indicated ounces and 203,000 inferred ounces. The company has pointed to recent HHH drilling results, which included an 11-metre intersection grading 456g/t gold, as evidence of the project’s high-grade growth potential.
Alongside deposit drilling, Torque plans to test regional targets across its broader South Kalgoorlie landholding and continue down-hole electromagnetic surveys. The company says the work is designed to pursue its Project RPM objective, described as a Rapid Path to One Million Ounces. That target is explicitly aspirational rather than a forecast or exploration target, and its achievement remains dependent on exploration success.
Cash balance improves, while dilution and execution become central tests
Based on unaudited cash of A$7.7 million at 30 September, gross placement proceeds would lift Torque’s pro forma cash position to approximately A$32.7 million before transaction costs. The stronger balance sheet gives the company room to run drilling and regional exploration in parallel, following the launch of Project RPM strategy, which set out the ambition to grow the South Kalgoorlie camp towards one million ounces.
The new shares are expected to settle on 15 October and be allotted on 16 October, subject to the relevant exchange processes. The more important milestones will come afterwards: whether the larger exploration budget produces resource growth at Ritz, whether regional targets translate into discoveries, and how quickly Torque converts a well-funded program into results. Until then, the placement has improved funding certainty, but it has not changed the geological risk inherent in the million-ounce objective.
Bottom Line?
Torque now has substantially more exploration firepower, but the value of the raise will be judged by resource growth and discoveries rather than cash alone.
Questions in the middle?
- How much of the A$32.7 million pro forma cash balance will be directed to drilling at Ritz versus regional targets and corporate costs?
- Will extensional and infill drilling convert inferred ounces into higher-confidence resources or expand the 351,000-ounce estimate?
- Can the regional exploration program produce discoveries at a pace that supports the aspirational one-million-ounce objective?