Several mining companies have secured new financing or expanded their exposure to copper, manganese and exploration assets, with transactions spanning Canada, Peru and Australia.
The deals include C$43.83 million for Canadian Copper’s Bathurst Complex, a US$25 million investment by Elemental Royalty in Peru’s Chapi copper project, a proposed US$1 billion capital programme for a North American manganese supply chain, and Alien Metals’ £200,000 acquisition of the Georgina Basin copper-gold project.
Canadian Copper funds Bathurst development
Canadian Copper has closed a financing package of up to C$43.83 million with OR Royalties for the Murray Brook deposit and Caribou processing plant in New Brunswick. The transaction comprises a C$38.35 million precious-metals stream and a C$5.48 million equity subscription. Canadian Copper received C$12.5 million on 16 July 2026, including a C$7.02 million initial stream payment. OR Royalties subscribed for 7,306,666 shares at C$0.75 each, representing about 3.6% of Canadian Copper’s enlarged capital. The remaining C$31.5 million will be paid in quarterly construction instalments, subject to permits, board approval, execution contracts, full funding and financial-model requirements.
OR Royalties will receive 20% of payable silver and gold production from the Bathurst Complex and pay 20% of the prevailing spot price. The remaining metal value will initially reduce the stream deposit.
The 2025 preliminary economic assessment for Murray Brook projected average annual payable production of approximately 783,000 ounces of silver, alongside copper, zinc and lead. It estimated C$64 million of initial capital, an after-tax NPV of approximately C$169 million and an after-tax IRR of 36%, with a mine life exceeding 13 years. Canadian Copper also has access, at its election, to up to C$48 million of prospective debt from Ocean Partners UK, linked to concentrate offtake rights. The facility is not yet drawn or committed construction debt. The company has received a positive court vesting order for the Caribou acquisition and registered the Murray Brook environmental-impact assessment. A further 36.8 million warrants at C$0.25 could provide approximately C$9.1 million before their November expiry.
Elemental expands Chapi copper exposure
Elemental Royalty has invested US$25 million in Quilla Resources and its Peruvian subsidiary Minera Pampa de Cobre, gaining approximately 9% of Quilla’s equity and an additional royalty over the Chapi copper project. The transaction adds a perpetual, uncapped 1% net-smelter-return royalty over the Pampa Negra and Candelaria concessions, expected to supply Chapi’s second-phase expansion. Together with Elemental’s existing royalty, its interest reaches 3% over the concessions, with the Candelaria royalty scheduled to fall to 2% in July 2034.
Quilla plans to raise Chapi’s copper-cathode capacity from approximately 10,000 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes per year. Elemental’s funding will support exploration, permitting and engineering for the expansion and provide capital ahead of a proposed public listing.
Chapi is a brownfield operation with open pits, underground workings, crushing and agglomeration facilities, heap-leach pads, solvent extraction and electrowinning capacity. Quilla restarted the mine and produced its first copper cathode in early 2026. The expansion depends on permitting and development of Pampa Negra and Candelaria at grades sufficient to support the planned increase in output. Elemental has not disclosed how the US$25 million was divided between equity and royalty consideration.
Manganese alliance targets US$1 billion
Canadian Manganese Company has appointed GreenMet as exclusive strategic-development and capital-formation partner for the North American Critical Manganese Alliance, targeting up to US$1 billion of long-term capital. The arrangement is based on a letter of intent, not a committed financing agreement. No lender, strategic investor or government institution has yet subscribed capital.
The alliance includes Canadian Manganese, GreenMet, AmForge and Flash Metals USA. The proposed supply chain would run from the Woodstock manganese project in New Brunswick through Canadian beneficiation and hydrometallurgical refining to specialty processing and advanced manufacturing in the United States.
Potential funding sources include strategic equity, project debt, infrastructure capital, export-credit support, government programmes, OEM participation and institutional investment. No detailed capital allocation, binding development schedule or individual asset ownership structure has yet been disclosed. The proposed programme includes the mine, processing infrastructure, downstream manufacturing and potential acquisitions.
Alien Metals acquires Australian copper-gold project
AIM-listed Alien Metals has completed its acquisition of Knox Resources from Venari Minerals, securing full ownership of the Georgina Basin iron-oxide copper-gold project in Australia’s Northern Territory. The consideration totals £200,000, comprising £100,000 in cash and 90,260,854 new Alien shares at 0.11079 pence each. Following admission of the shares, Alien is expected to have approximately 11.81 billion shares outstanding, with the acquisition shares representing about 0.8% of the enlarged capital.
Knox holds seven granted exploration licences and three applications covering approximately 2,500 square kilometres in the East Tennant province. Previous exploration expenditure reached about A$4.8 million, generating three drill-ready gravity targets associated with copper, bismuth, silver and uranium pathfinder signatures.
SRK Consulting valued the project at between A$1.5 million and A$3.8 million, with a preferred value of A$2.7 million. The project has no declared mineral resource and remains at the exploration-target stage. Vincent Fayad has become chief executive and executive director, while Michael Carter has become non-executive chair. Two Venari technical specialists have been retained under a services agreement. Alien expects to fund the next 12 months of work largely from existing resources while continuing activities at its 90%-owned Hancock iron-ore project and its Munni Munni and Elizabeth Hill assets.
