Australian mining investor DGR Global has acquired a strategic 10% shareholding in ASX-listed copper and gold explorer Sunstone Metals, taking 28.4mn new shares for AUD4.9mn ($3.37mn) as part of Sunstone's broader placement of 25% of its issued share capital at $0.17 per share, Creamer Media reported. DGR also secured the right to nominate a director to Sunstone's board.
The placement forms part of a wider AUD9.9mn ($6.8mn) capital raise aimed at advancing copper exploration at Sunstone's El Palmar-Verde Chico and Bramaderos projects in Ecuador. DGR, which brings 14 years of exploration experience in the country, said it intends to support Sunstone in identifying major copper-gold porphyry deposits.
DGR's track record in Ecuador includes its earlier involvement with SolGold and its Cascabel copper-gold porphyry project in the country's north, which the company helped advance from 2012 until SolGold was acquired by Jiangxi Copper Investment Company for approximately $1.7bn in March.
Sunstone's El Palmar project sits within the Toachi Fault, recognised as one of Ecuador's leading emerging copper-gold porphyry provinces, hosting several internationally significant mineral systems. The project also incorporates the nearby Verde Chico prospect, which contains previously drilled high-grade epithermal gold veins alongside strong copper anomalism. Further south, Sunstone has outlined a mineral resource of approximately 3.6mn ounces of gold equivalent at its Bramaderos project.
DGR said the investment reflects its long-standing strategy of backing high-quality resource projects with strong geological potential, contributing technical expertise and strategic oversight through board participation.
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