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  • Shares in gold and base metal explorer First Au (FAU) jumped nearly 20 per cent today before the company entered back-to-back trading halts
  • The West Aussie materials stock froze its shares this morning as it gears up for a potential capital raise
  • Shareholders will have to wait until Thursday, October 1, to find out more details about the raise — unless First Au can make an announcement earlier
  • Until that date, just how much the company intends to raise or what it’ll use the equity for remains unclear
  • First Au’s rise into the green this morning came after the company was granted an exploration licence
  • Now the grant has come through, First Au can finalise its Victorian Goldfields buy and acquire an 80 per cent stake in the company
  • First Au shares last traded for 1.9 cents each earlier today

Shares in gold and base metal explorer First Au (FAU) jumped nearly 20 per cent today before the company entered back-to-back trading halts.

The West Aussie materials stock froze its shares this morning as it gears up for a potential capital raise.

Shareholders will have to wait until Thursday, October 1, to find out more details about the raise — unless First Au can make an announcement earlier.

Until that date, just how much the company intends to raise or what it’ll use the equity for remains unclear.

First Au’s rise into the green came after the company was granted an exploration licence earlier today.

A historical map of the Haunted Streams Gold Field
Source: State Library of Victoria

The licence covers the Haunted Streams gold workings in Victoria — an area FAU sais had seen limited drilling.

Now the grant has come through, First Au can finalise its Victorian Goldfields (also known as VicGold) buy and acquire an 80 per cent stake in the company.

The acquisition target is a private exploration company, hunting for new gold targets across Victoria. Significantly, the buy will broaden First Au’s horizons and see it explore projects outside the WA goldfields and Pilbara region.

Once the deal goes through, 20 million FAU shares will be issued at one cent each to VicGold’s vendors.

First Au can then buy the remaining 20 per cent interest if a decision is made to mine at the Victorian Goldfields Project.

In the meantime, directors at the materials stock await drilling results from a recent campaign at its Gimlet Gold Project in WA.

First Au shares last traded for 1.9 cents each earlier today.

FAU by the numbers
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