Southern Cross raises $117M to fast-track Sunday Creek exploration in OZ

Australia’s Southern Cross Gold (ASX: SXG) raised A$162 million ($117m) in a private placement in Canada to support work at the Sunday Creek gold-antimony project.Bankers from Stifel Nicolaus Canada and Aitken Mount led the offering, which attracted strong interest from institutional investors in Australia, Canada and abroad, as well as existing shareholders, Southern Cross president and CEO Michael Hudson said Thursday.“This funding allows us to advance our drill programs, complete permitting for the underground tunnel to allow access for underground drilling, all which will provide the necessary information to complete economic studies,” Hudson said in a press release.Sunday Creek lies 60 km north of Melbourne in Australia’s Lachlan Fold Belt, a corridor that hosts Agnico Eagle Mines’ (TSX, NYSE: AEM) Fosterville mine and Mandalay Resources’ (TSX: MND) Costerfield mine. The region has proven geology and developed infrastructure. Southern Cross’ Redcastle project sits 2 km from Costerfield’s licences and 24 km east of Fosterville, further highlighting the cluster’s exploration upside.Sunday Creek’s 20% antimony content has drawn a lot of attention. The company could one day become a key Western supplier of this important metal, especially given current geopolitical issues, Hudson said.The company’s Toronto-listed shares gained as much as 4% or C19¢ Friday to C$4.88, before settling back to C$4.81, still up 2.5% by press time. They have ranged between C$1.02 and C$4.95 over the past 12 months, giving Southern Cross a market capitalization of C$1.1 billion ($800m).Initial resourceAbout C$53 million of the net proceeds will fund 207,000 metres of drilling to establish an inferred resource by early 2027. Some C$27 million will go toward permitting and development of a 1 km decline for underground drilling, while C$4 million is spent on a preliminary economic assessment. Another C$59 million will be allocated to exploration target expansion, regional exploration and working capital.Southern Cross has begun the permitting process for a 600-metre underground tunnel at Sunday Creek. This tunnel will enable underground drilling next year. A formal application to the Victoria resources regulator is due by September, followed by community drop-in sessions across Mitchell Shire.In early March, the company announced it will double its Sunday Creek exploration target. It expects to find between 8.1 – 9.6 million tonnes of ore.The gold-equivalent grades are to range from 8.3-10.6 grams per tonne, translating potentially to about 2.2-3.2 million oz. of metal. This represents an increase of up to 88% in tonnage compared to the January 2024 target. There’s also a 15% rise in grade and as much as 120% more contained metal. Plus, the target area now covers 67% of the 1.5 km drill footprint.Resource growthThe expansion is focused on three main areas: Rising Sun (340 metres), Apollo (280 metres) and Golden Dyke (400 metres).  The drilling fleet now has eight diamond rigs. Seven of these focus on expansion and infill drilling between the Apollo and Christina prospects in a 1.5 km corridor. The eighth rig targets regional trends identified by past work, geophysical data and soil anomalies. A planned geotechnical program of five holes totalling 900 metres will support the exploration tunnel application.Recent results from three deep holes at the Apollo prospect are promising. Hole SDDSC158 showed 100.5 metres at 3.1 grams gold-equivalent from a depth of 820.8 metres. This included 28.6 metres at 10.3 grams gold-equivalent per tonne and a 1.4 metre section at 142.2 grams gold-equivalent. This confirms mineralization continuity at depth, Southern Cross said.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com