According to a report by Mining.com, rare earth developer Aclara Resources raised $25 million through a private placement to advance its Carina rare earth project in Brazil. The company is expected to apply for permits and complete a pre-feasibility study next year.
The private placement price was C$0.70 per share, representing a 41% premium to last Friday's closing price on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Aclara issued 51.3 million shares to three subscribers: CAP, Hochschild Mining Holdings, and New Hartsdale Capital. The latter two companies are already shareholders of Aclara.
Upon completion of the transaction, CAP, Hochschild, and New Hartsdale will hold 10.18%, 19.65%, and 36.9% of Aclara's shares, respectively.
Aclara's stock price rose 7.1% to C$0.53, giving it a total market capitalization of C$87.3 million. Over the past 52 weeks, its stock price has ranged between C$0.36 and C$0.65.
Aclara President Eduardo Hochschild welcomed CAP as a new shareholder, describing the Chilean industry giant as having "extensive industry experience" and being "an important partner capable of helping to build a sustainable and integrated rare earth supply chain."
Aclara CEO Ramon Barua added that the financing is "very important" for the company to become a reliable and sustainable producer of magnet rare earths, highlighting CAP's investment in the Penco rare earth project in Chile.
In April, CAP, which owns iron ore mines in the South American country, announced plans to invest $80 million in the Penco project to acquire a 20% stake. At the same time, Aclara announced it would leverage CAP's experience in environmental permitting to advance its own environmental impact assessment.
In September, Aclara made progress on the Penco permitting process. The project, located in the Biobío Region of Chile, is currently undergoing environmental evaluation in collaboration with multiple agencies. The project features an ion-adsorption rare earth deposit with a total rare earth oxide (TREO) content of 63,000 mt (ore volume of 27.5 million mt, TREO grade of 0.2292%).
In 2025, the company will use the $25 million raised through the private placement to advance its Carina rare earth project in Goiás, Brazil. In Q2, the company will submit an environmental impact study, construct a semi-industrial-scale pilot plant, and complete a drilling program.
The updated resource estimates from the drilling will be used for the pre-feasibility study, which is expected to be completed in Q3. Currently, the project has only inferred ore resources of 298 million mt with a TREO grade of 0.1452%, equivalent to 432,000 mt of rare earth oxides.
Additionally, the company plans to use a small portion of the private placement funds, along with potential government grants, to advance its separation project in the US. Specific objectives include completing site selection for the plant, conducting laboratory tests, and performing integrated pilot-scale trials.
