Lundin, Sprott, Warke fund Highlander Silver for Peru

South America-focused Highlander Silver (CSE: HSLV) is netting $9.2 million from members of the Lundin family as well as Canadian mining billionaires Richard Warke and Eric Sprott. 

The financing, for the San Luis gold-silver project in Peru, comes from 20.5 million common shares priced at 45¢ each, the company said on Tuesday. The Lundin family and Warke, through his Augusta Group, already held shares in Highlander.

The stock soared to a 52-week high of $0.69 apiece in early trading on Tuesday before easing to 68¢ apiece, still up 36% for the session. Its market capitalization is $41.1 million.

“We very much appreciate the continued support from Richard Warke and the Lundin family, and we are delighted to welcome Eric Sprott as a new strategic investor in Highlander,” Highlander CEO David Fincham said in the release.

SSR Mining

Highlander acquired the San Luis gold-silver project from SSR Mining (TSX: SSRM; ASX: SSR) in November for US$42 million. The deal is to close next month. San Luis, in north central Peru, has a historical measured and indicated mineral resource of 348,000 oz. of gold grading 22.4 grams per tonne and 9 million oz. of silver grading 578.1 grams. 

The financing follows a $3 million investment from Augusta and the Lundin family in October. At the time, Highlander offered units of the company at 10¢ each, and subsequently consolidated its shares on a two to one basis.

That investment, which was Lundin’s first in Highlander, was used for the company’s La Estrella project in south central Peru. It has a near-surface exploration target hosting 15 million to 35 million tonnes averaging between 50-60 grams silver and 0.4-0.6 gram gold, containing 25 million to 60 million oz. of silver and 200,000 to 700,000 oz. of gold, the company said.