BOA Resources has secured firm commitments for a $9.245 million placement to fund the next phase of exploration across its 100%-owned Neds Creek copper project in Western Australia. The raise comes as high-grade Ricci Lee results build momentum, with further assays from 104 holes still pending.
- $9.245 million placement priced at $0.105 a share
- $7 million unconditional tranche and $2.245 million subject to shareholder approval
- Drilling at Ricci Lee, Thaduna and Rooneys expected to resume in three to four weeks
- Ricci Lee has returned high-grade copper in 28 of 34 reported holes
- Results from 92 regional aircore holes remain pending
$9.245 Million Raise Funds Next Drilling Phase
BOA Resources Limited (ASX:BOA) has raised the money it needs to press ahead at Neds Creek, securing firm commitments for a $9.245 million share placement just days after consolidating 100% ownership of the Western Australian copper project. The funds will principally support drilling and resource growth at Ricci Lee, Thaduna and Rooneys, with drilling expected to resume in three to four weeks.
The placement will issue 88,047,620 shares at $0.105 each across two tranches. The first, worth $7 million, will be issued under BOA's existing placement capacity. The remaining $2.245 million, including about $130,000 of intended director participation, requires shareholder approval at the company's 30 November annual general meeting.
Ricci Lee Results Drive Exploration Push
The capital arrives while BOA's most advanced exploration story is still producing assays. At Ricci Lee, high-grade copper has been reported in 28 of 34 holes to date, including an intersection of 22 metres at 3.05% copper and 9.5 grams per tonne silver. The Main Lode has been traced over more than 400 metres of strike and beyond 200 metres of vertical depth, while assays from another 12 holes remain outstanding.
That drilling campaign has already extended the interpreted Ricci Lee system beyond 400 metres, as outlined in BOA's latest Ricci Lee drilling. The new funding gives the company room to move from an initial run of encouraging intersections into further drilling, geological modelling and resource evaluation, although the announcement does not provide an updated resource estimate.
1,378 Square Kilometre Copper Portfolio
BOA's enlarged Neds Creek holding covers 1,378 square kilometres and includes the Thaduna and Green Dragon copper deposits. Those deposits carry combined Mineral Resources of 5.3 million tonnes at 2.3% copper, or 121,000 tonnes of contained copper, according to the company.
The placement will also fund heritage and exploration studies, geological support, tenement costs and potential drilling at Green Dragon. Results from 92 aircore holes across five additional prospects are still pending, while the company's recent Rooneys copper trend extended the interpreted mineralised trend beyond 500 metres and added another target to the follow-up programme.
Funding Secured, Resource Growth Still Unproven
For BOA, the raise removes an immediate funding constraint around the next drilling cycle and provides a clearer path to test several targets within a newly consolidated project. It does not, however, guarantee that exploration will translate into a larger Mineral Resource: continuity, scale, metallurgy and eventual economics remain matters for further work.
The near-term sequence is relatively clear. Tranche 1 is expected to settle on 28 October, shareholder approval is required for the second tranche, and drilling is planned to restart within weeks. The more consequential evidence will come from the pending Ricci Lee assays and regional aircore results, followed by whether that data supports a resource estimate rather than simply a longer list of promising intersections.
Bottom Line?
BOA now has capital and a larger project footprint; the next test is whether pending assays convert Ricci Lee's high-grade intersections into a coherent resource story.
Questions in the middle?
- Will the 12 pending Ricci Lee assays extend the Main Lode's continuity and scale?
- Can results from the 92 regional aircore holes identify additional targets worthy of substantial follow-up drilling?
- Will shareholders approve the $2.245 million second tranche, including the proposed director participation, at the November meeting?