The ASX-listed company, which is hoping to reopen the Antler copper mine in Arizona after some 50 years, has just secured a funding boost from UK-based Trident Royalties, a company poised to earn an income stream from the Thacker Pass lithium clay development in Nevada.
Trident has entered into a binding agreement for a 0.9% net royalty over future production from Antler in return for A$11 million in cash upfront.
New World managing director Mike Haynes said the funding was non-dilutive and another a major endorsement of plans to restart the high-grade underground mine and unlock new targets it has defined in the near-mine area over recent years.
Since taking on Antler in 2020, New World has defined a resource of 11.4Mt at 4.1% copper equivalent.
Trident was said to have emerged from the ruck after a competitive process, and will also benefit from a 0.45% over any production by New World within 5km of Antler, subject to a similar buyback, and can match any other royalty or streaming agreement New World enters into.
New World can repurchase 0.3% of the royalty for $9 million within three months of locking in its restart finance.
The cash, adding to around $3.7 million in funds remaining, will allow drilling of six undrilled copper-zinc VMS anomalies around Antler, diamond drilling within the mine, and work to expedite a mine restart in 2026.
A prefeasibility study for the US$252 million development is expected before the end of the year.
