Ivanhoe Electric Plans $60 Million Public Offering for Arizona Copper Project
Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE American: IE) (TSX: IE) is set to raise $60 million through a public offering of units priced at $5.85 each. The funds will be allocated toward advancing the company’s Santa Cruz copper project in Casa Grande, Arizona.
The offering will issue approximately 10.25 million units, each consisting of one common share and one warrant with an exercise price of $7.00 per share.
On Wednesday, the stock traded at $6.09 in New York, reflecting a 3% intraday gain and a market capitalization of $733.6 million.
Initially targeting $50 million, the offering was later upsized and is expected to close on Friday. BMO Capital Markets is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering.
Ivanhoe plans to use the proceeds to continue the prefeasibility work for the Santa Cruz copper project. The project spans 5,975 acres of private land, including associated water rights.
In June 2024, Ivanhoe received approval to use more than 3,000 acres of the land for industrial purposes, marking a significant permitting achievement for the proposed copper mine.
The company acquired the land title in May 2023 for $116 million and secured full ownership of the mineral rights in May 2024 after exercising its purchase option.
Since late 2022, Ivanhoe has conducted 120,000 metres of drilling at the project, resulting in a current resource estimate of 2.8 million tonnes of copper in the indicated category (226.7 million tonnes at 1.24% copper) and 1.8 million tonnes of copper in the inferred category (149 million tonnes at 1.24% copper).
A preliminary assessment in September 2023 outlined a surface footprint for a small underground copper mine at Santa Cruz, with annual production of 5.9 million tonnes over a 20-year mine life. This will focus on the high-grade Santa Cruz and East Ridge deposits.
Ivanhoe’s prefeasibility study is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2025, and it will include a mine plan based on a new mineral resource estimate derived from infill drilling and testwork conducted since the initial assessment.
