Marimaca Copper (TSX: MARI) has begun the process to dual list on the Australian Securities Exchange, a strategic move to boost growth and access to capital as it advances its flagship copper project in Chile.
The Vancouver-based company has reportedly engaged law firm Thomson Geer to finalize a prospectus for listing in the ASX before Christmas. According to the Australian Financial Review, Marimaca doesn’t plan to appoint brokers until the March quarter.
While the company has ruled out an immediate need for an equity raise, one of the key motivations for seeking a listing in Australia is to tap into the institutional capital supporting ASX-listed entities, something that’s missing in Canada.
Marimaca may be following in the footsteps of fellow Canadian miner Capstone Copper (TSX: CS; ASX: CSC), which finalized a dual listing earlier this year. The move allowed Capstone’s private equity backer, Orion, to offload A$593 million (US$387 million) through a block trade aimed at Australian investors.
Marimaca’s dual-listing aligns with its efforts to advance a definitive feasibility study for its flagship project — its namesake Marimaca copper asset in Chile’s Antofagasta region.
The project is one of the most significant copper oxide discoveries in Chile in the past decade, with the potential to become a low-capital-cost, high-margin operation, according to the company’s president and chief executive Hayden Locke.
The miner has been expanding its presence in the Chilean copper sector in recent weeks, while working to complete the Marimaca’s feasibility before year-end.
Since discovering the Marimaca deposit in 2016, the company has more than doubled its resources. The latest estimate outlines 200 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources grading 0.45% copper for 900,000 tonnes of metal. Inferred resources add million tonnes grading 0.38% copper for 141,000 tonnes.
The open-pit, heap-leach project is designed to produce 40,000 tonnes of copper cathodes annually during its first six years of operation, beginning in 2028. Over the 12-year mine life, the total recovered copper is estimated at 430,000 tonnes.
Competitive costs
A 2022 preliminary economic assessment showed Marimaca’s operating costs in the bottom 15% of the all-in sustaining cost curve at US$1.29 per pound of copper. This low cost provides a cash margin of 65% based on a copper price of US$3.70 per pound. The project’s low-carbon intensity production prospects have also attracted investment.
Mitsubishi Corp. acquired a 5% equity stake in Marimaca last June, citing the project’s sustainable production attributes. In July, South Africa’s Assore Group followed suit, investing $68 million (US$44 million) in the company.
Maricama shares have surged almost 50% this year, boosting the miner’s market capitalization to $515.2 million.
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