Sumitomo Metal Mining Canada Ltd. (SMM), a division of Japanese trading house Sumitomo Trading Corp., is taking a 9.9 per cent stake in FPX Nickel Corp. (TSX-V:FPX,OTCQB: FPOCF), developer of the Baptiste nickel project.
FPX announced Sumitomo is making a $14.5 million private placement at a 70 per cent premium of FPX’s share price prior to the announcement.
“This strategic investment by Sumitomo Metal Mining represents another significant technical validation of FPX’s Baptiste Nickel Project…and underscores our view that Baptiste is a class-leading asset,” FPX CEO Martin Turenne said in a press release.
“We expect that this investment will establish a strong relationship between SMM and FPX, with the aim to contribute to SMM’s long term production target of 150,000 tonnes of nickel per year,” Eiichi Fukuda, executive officer and general manager of SMM’ Mineral Resources Division, said in a press release. “We have a long business history in Canada with a variety of partners, and we are excited to be working with FPX.”
“This strategic investment by Sumitomo Metal Mining represents another significant technical validation of FPX’s Baptiste Nickel Project … and underscores our view that Baptiste is a class-leading asset,” said FPX CEO Martin Turenne.
The company said it plans to use the $14.5 million “primarily for exploration and development activities at the project, continuance of ongoing environmental baseline activities, feasibility study readiness activities, and general corporate and administrative purposes.”
