Critical Minerals Group Raises $2.05m for Lindfield Vanadium DFS

Critical Minerals Group (ASX: CMG) has launched a $2.05 million capital raising to fund definitive feasibility study workstreams at its Lindfield vanadium project in northwest Queensland.

The company will raise $1.25 million through a placement of 20.83 million new shares priced at $0.06 each to exempt investors, and a further $800,000 via a share purchase plan open to eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand, with each applicant able to subscribe for up to $30,000 at the same price. The issue price is a 13% discount to the last traded price of $0.069 and a 7.8% discount to the five-day volume-weighted average price of $0.065.

Idemitsu Lindfield, Critical Minerals' majority shareholder with a 33.86% stake, has committed to subscribe for up to 11.56 million placement shares, about $694,059, the maximum allowed without increasing its equity interest after the raise. Substantial shareholder Gerhard Redelinghuys and Matt Latimore, a non-executive director of Stanmore Resources (ASX: SMR), are also electing to increase their holdings.

Redelinghuys, a resources executive with more than 30 years' experience in mining operations and capital markets, was appointed a non-executive director this week. He founded Bowen Coking Coal (ASX: BCB) in 2016 and, as chief executive, led it to ASX Top 300 status and oversaw production at three mines before stepping down in 2023. He previously served as managing director of Exxaro Australia and is now co-founder and managing director of M Critical Minerals and M Battery Materials. Chairman Alan Broome said Redelinghuys' perspective would be valuable as the company evaluates opportunities to advance its strategy and pursue disciplined growth.

Net proceeds will fund the first DFS workstreams for Lindfield, including a pre-wet season drilling program for geological, geotechnical, water monitoring and mine planning, along with bench-scale metallurgical testing. The funds also cover an environmental impact statement, the mining lease application, state and federal environmental approvals, and stakeholder liaison.

The raising follows a $1.5 million placement in June that progressed offtake arrangements for vanadium electrolyte supply from Lindfield with flow battery manufacturers and data centres, plus front-end engineering and design for a proposed Phase 1 electrolyte processing facility with annual capacity of 24 megalitres. That capital also defrayed costs for a tenure application and resource definition work at Lindfield West, expanding the company's footprint in the Julia Creek vanadium province.

Idemitsu Lindfield's commitment is capped at the maximum that keeps its 33.86% interest unchanged after both legs of the capital raising.