Western Copper and Gold has closed a deal to raise US$33M (C$46M).

Western Copper and Gold’s wholly-owned Casino Project is an undeveloped porphyry deposit located 300km northwest of Whitehorse, in west-central Yukon, Canada. The deposit is enriched with copper, gold, molybdenum, and silver mineralisation and the project is currently in the environmental assessment review process.

The deal included the sale of approximately 24.2M shares and will raise approximately US$33M. The net proceeds of the sale of common shares on 30 April 2024 are expected to be allocated to advance permitting and engineering activity at the project. The company aims to submit the project’s environmental and socio-economic statement (ESE Statement) to the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board (YESAB) in 2024.

According to the 2022 feasibility study, the development (base case) of the Casino project would cost approximately C$3.62Bn (US$2.64Bn) and pay for itself over 3.3 years. Additionally, there will be a sustaining cost of approximately C$750M (US$547M). The project also demonstrates an after-tax net present value (8% discount) of C$2.3Bn (US$1.67Bn) and an after-tax internal rate of return of 18.1%.

Production from the mineral processing plant is planned to total 2Mt of copper, 162t of gold, 980t of silver. There will also be 185kt Mo-in-concentrate. The proposed mine is expected to have a commercial mine life of at least 27 years. Commissioning of the project, if all goes according to plan, would be early 2030.

The Yukon-British Columbia margin in western Canada is home to a number of copper-molybdenum-gold projects with significant mineral resources. The updated news about the Casino is positive for the project’s development. The lack of capital funding, together with strict environmental standards, have been major factors in the lack of mine developments in the area in recent times. However, Canada has the potential to be a key source of copper supply as well as molybdenum concentrate feedstock for North American steel and stainless steel producers.