New shares were issued at A$4.50 each, a slim 6.1% discount, and are already trading comfortably above that price.
Shares in the company have doubled this year to as much as A$4.80 yesterday.
While analysts are yet to update their models following the raising, in late May, Argonaut head of research Hayden Bairstow had a price target of A$5.40 and Canaccord Genuity analyst Tim McCormack had a price target of A$5.05.
Combined with existing cash of A$50 million, the placement proceeds allow Develop to bring forward its growth plans by 2-3 years.
The company recently achieved first concentrate production from its Woodlawn copper-zinc mine in NSW and has identified opportunities to lift production and extend the mine life.
As a result, it has called off the process to sell a minority stake in Woodlawn.
“The global interest shown in the sale process at Woodlawn reflects the offtake scramble now unfolding,” Beament said.
Beament, who recently paid more than $9 million to boost his stake in Develop to 22%, pointed to the lack of copper and base metals assets on the ASX.
MAC Copper, Adriatic Metals and Xanadu Mines are all subject to recent takeover offers, while US developer New World Resources finds itself at the centre of a bidding war.
“It has become increasingly obvious to us that there is a window of lucrative opportunity in the copper and base metals space generally,” Beament said.
“There is a global race on to secure offtake of these crucial metals, particularly from tier-one locations, and we are in the box seat to take full advantage of this opportunity.”
Woodlawn
Develop has made its first copper, zinc and lead shipments from Woodlawn to offtake partner Trafigura.
The company said it was achieving better copper concentrate grades than forecast and peak recoveries of 85% for copper, 84% for zinc and 65% for lead and precious metals had been achieved.
The mine is expected to produce 22,000 tonnes per annum of copper equivalent per year over 10 years.
Develop will use a chunk of the funds raised to look at expanding the mill from 850,000tpa to 1.35 million tonnes per annum.
The company will add two jumbos to accelerate capital development and access more production areas with software suggesting the underground mine has the potential to produce 1Mtpa of ore.
Nearby satellite mines could contribute an additional 250,000-350,000tpa of ore.
Project DM15 will target an extension of the mine life to 15 years via more than 50km of drilling.
Sulphur Springs
A month ago, Develop kicked off earthworks at the Sulphur Springs zinc-copper project in the Pilbara ahead of the construction of a boxcut and decline, which will extend to 350m below surface.
The company is working on an updated definitive feasibility study to be released later this year to enable a final investment decision.
The June 2023 DFS delivered a pre-tax net present value of A$523 million, based on an eight-year underground mine to produce around 30,000tpa of copper equivalent.
Sulphur Springs has a resource of 17.4Mt at 5.8% zinc, 1% copper and 21 grams per tonne silver and mineralisation remains open on the margins, along strike and down-plunge.
Project DM15 will also be implemented at Sulphur Springs to target a 15-year mine life via more than 50km of drilling.
“We are very confident that we can extend the mine life at our Woodlawn and Sulphur Springs projects, which will create substantial value for shareholders,” Beament said.
Other opportunities
While the ramp-up of Woodlawn and the development of Sulphur Springs were always part of the plan, Develop is also eyeing new opportunities, both in mine ownership and mining services.
After generating A$147 million of revenue in the 2024 financial year, Develop confirmed its mining services division remained on track to generate around A$200 million of revenue in FY25, mainly from its underground contract at Bellevue Gold’s namesake WA gold mine.
The company has identified several opportunities to add new contracts in FY26 and is engaging with potential new clients.
Develop added that it had been presented with “compelling” partnership opportunities, which the raising would allow it to pursue.
“We are also sourcing and being presented with partnership opportunities at other projects,” Beament said.
“This is a testament to the reputation of our world-class team in both mine ownership and mining services.”
The company also has the Pioneer Dome lithium project in WA in its back pocket for when the lithium price recovers, which Argonaut recently suggested could be as soon as late 2026.
