While the company launched on the VMS potential of its Perrinvale project in Western Australia, and has more recently backed greenfields exploration in Gabon, its latest placement is aimed squarely at its interests in Botswana's Kalahari Copper Belt.

 

It has successfully raised $5.3 million from a range of existing and new sophisticated and institutional investors, with the placement priced at 17c said to have attracted "significant demand".

 

The placements were priced at a 13-17% discount to recent trading and organised by Canaccord Genuity.

 

Pending shareholder approval, UK-based Metal Tiger will pump in a further $1.4 million to maintain its 21% interest in Cobre.

 

The raising comes after Cobre shareholders approved the issue of 21 million shares priced at 20c for a 51% stake in Kalahari Metals, where Metal Tiger previously owned a dominant stake, and remains its key partner.

 

The issue of 31 million new placement shares will see further dilution of Holland's stake, which has already fallen from 11.4% to 8.8% as a result of the KML deal.

 

Cobre expects to emerge with around $10 million in its war chest to fund its copper-silver focused exploration in Botswana.

 

Holland said KML now had "two well-funded owners" capable of rapidly progressing exploration of the Kalahari Copper Belt.

 

Last August, Cobre and Metal Tiger agreed to commit a combined $3.5 million in Botswana over two years.

 

The 2720sq.km Okavango project is along strike from Cupric Canyon's Zone 5 and Zone 5N deposits, while Kitlanya East is close to Cupric's Banana Zone and Sandfire Resources' T3 and A4 deposits.

 

AIM-listed Metal Tiger is also a partner with Cobre in Armada Exploration, which controls some 2990sq.km of frontier leases in Gabon considered prospective for magmatic nickel-copper sulphides.

 

Cobre shares were last traded at 18.5c, with the stock having traded between 13.5-29c over the past year.

 

Metal Tiger, which is mulling an ASX listing, has seen its shares trade between 11.4-29p over the past year, and closed steady at 19.5p overnight in London.