Nevada Copper (NCU.TO) announced it has raised an additional C$10.5M in cash after receiving C$6.6M from Pala and C$3.9M from Red Kite Mine Finance as both entities have provided Nevada Copper with additional funds as part of respectively the subordinated debenture and the senior secured loan facility.
This cash inflow allows Nevada Copper to continue to work on figuring out the best way to move the Pumpkin Hollow project forward. The total cash injection of C$14.5M will be sufficient to keep the Pumpkin Hollow project ‘shovel ready’ until the second half of 2017, although we would expect Nevada Copper to re-think the final mine plant as it could perhaps make more sense to revisit the underground mine as a solo-operation or to focus on the higher grade zones at the open pit.
In other news, the City of Yerington has approved zoning of the NCU lands in an industrial district which doesn’t just include the possibility to mine on the land package but now also explicitly mentions solar power as a potential use for the land. This will confirm NCU’s expectations and plans to consider building a solar park at the Pumpkin Hollow site as the company has released a solar study with NV Energy, one of the companies in the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) portfolio.
The potential development of a solar park is indeed very interesting, but the Pumpkin Hollow copper project is obviously the main reason why we continue to keep an eye on this company. With the additional cash inflow, Nevada Copper is effectively buying more time whilst it’s waiting for a higher copper price.
Go to Nevada Copper’s website
The author has a long position in Nevada Copper. Please read the disclaimer
