International miner Glencore is taking a significant equity stake in a promising nickel and copper project in northwestern Ontario.
Palladium One Mining, an exploration company working north of the Hemlo gold mine complex, announced Glencore plc is investing more than $4.2 million through a private placement financing agreement.
The proceeds are mostly earmarked for exploration and development activities at Palladium One’s nickel projects.
When the private placement closes on April 11, Glencore will own approximately 9.99 per cent of Palladium One’s issued and outstanding shares.
Palladium One’s main project in Northern Ontario is its Tyko Project, located 25 kilometres north of Barrick’s Hemlo gold mine complex and 65 kilometres northeast of Marathon. The company is drilling two zones of high-grade nickel, copper and platinum group metals, known as Smoke Lake and West Pickle, about 20 kilometres apart on property covering more than 24,000 hectares.
Palladium One is in the process of acquiring additional ground in a pending deal with MetalCorp.
“We welcome Glencore as a shareholder and are pleased that our efforts to build a portfolio of nickel – copper sulphide projects in Tier 1 jurisdictions has been recognized and endorsed by an industry leader,” said Palladium One CEO Derrick Weyrauch in a news release.
“We look forward to working with Glencore's exploration team to advance our common exploration and development goals."
In a statement, Wayne Ashworth, Glencore’s head of nickel assets, said the company is pleased to become a cornerstone investor in Palladium One.
“The management team has been able to put together a sizeable land package focused on critical minerals. The exploration results to date have been very encouraging and we look forward to working with Palladium One to build on the success the team has had to date.”
