AKIPRESS.COM - Canadian-listed miner Kincora Copper said in a release that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) would acquire a 6.16 percent stake in the company for 1.4 million Canadian dollars ($1.1 million) to further its exploration in Mongolia.
The funding is a departure from the bank’s tendency to avoid financing exploration rather than fully-fledged projects because it is regarded as higher risk.
Eric Rasmussen, director, natural resources at the EBRD, said the bank could make an exception because of “an exploration gap” following the commodity price crash of 2015-16.
Kincora, which has acreage of more than 1,500 square kilometres in Mongolia, has begun drilling for copper, which is expected to be in high demand, especially in neighbouring China as infrastructure projects and an anticipated electric vehicle boom spur consumption.
The company in August announced it had raised a separate tranche of funding of $5.92 million Canadian dollars.