VBX widens Wuudagu funding options after raising $4.5m

$4.5 Million Placement Extends Wuudagu Funding

VBX Limited (ASX:VBX) has bought itself more room to advance Wuudagu, completing a $4.5 million placement to new and existing strategic and institutional investors as the northern Western Australian bauxite project moves towards development. The company issued 7,031,252 shares at $0.64 each on 30 September, before costs.

The raise lifted VBX’s cash balance to $4.3 million at quarter-end, from $301,000 three months earlier. Quarterly operating cash use was $1.19 million, leaving the company’s Appendix 5B calculation pointing to about 3.63 quarters of funding at the reported spending rate. That runway is a snapshot rather than a guarantee, particularly as the company continues to spend on feasibility, approvals and project management.

Wuudagu Feasibility Study Moves Into 2027

VBX has extended completion of the Wuudagu Definitive Feasibility Study to the first quarter of 2027. The extra time is being used to assess opportunities identified through engagement with contractors and potential project partners, including a higher mining rate and product recovery, a borefield water supply and co-location of marine infrastructure at Guy Point.

The study is also assessing expanded mining and beneficiation throughput of 8 to 9 million tonnes a year. VBX expressly cautioned that this assessment is not a new production target, because the work required to establish a reasonable basis for one has not been completed. Vivienne Powe has moved from non-executive director to Technical Director while remaining an executive director, adding technical and project-delivery input as the study progresses. The company’s earlier Q1 2027 DFS delay had coincided with a larger Wuudagu resource and renewed funding pressure.

Preliminary Funding Proposals Replace a Single Path

VBX says it has received preliminary proposals linked to operating arrangements, infrastructure and offtake, and has begun a formal process to assess them. The stated aim is to finalise a development funding solution after the DFS is complete, rather than lock in a structure before the project’s updated scope, cost and schedule are established.

That approach has come with a strategic reset. VBX terminated an indicative, non-binding term sheet with thyssenkrupp Materials Trading Asia Pte Ltd to preserve offtake and funding optionality while the broader process runs. The decision follows an earlier offtake funding term sheet, but the current announcement does not disclose a replacement commitment or a binding development finance agreement.

The company’s case rests partly on Wuudagu’s low-silica product and its potential position as an Australian alternative amid heavy Chinese reliance on imported bauxite. VBX cites current Guinean bauxite pricing of US$73 a tonne CFR China and says independent market adviser CM Group expects Wuudagu’s product to attract a similar price, although those expectations remain dependent on product quality, logistics, approvals and eventual project execution.

Debt Conversion and Approvals Remain Key Gates

Alongside the equity raise, Ryan de Franck’s Valperlon Trust has agreed to convert $2.5 million of unsecured loan notes into 3,906,250 shares at $0.64 each, subject to shareholder approval. The wider $5 million related-party loan facility has been extended to 31 December 2027, with the interest rate increasing to 8% a year from 1 January 2026 according to the activities report.

Near-term execution now centres on lodging the Environmental Review Document, completing the DFS and obtaining the licences and approvals required to construct and operate Wuudagu. Until those steps are completed, the funding proposals remain preliminary and the higher-throughput case remains an assessment rather than an operating plan.