Why is White Cliff Minerals stock surging today?

White Cliff Minerals stock experienced a significant surge of 8.8%, reaching A$0.019 on Tuesday following Hancock Prospecting's announcement to subscribe to around 515.8 million new shares at A$0.017 each. The deal, valued at A$8.8 million, will grant Hancock Prospecting, a private mining giant led by Gina Rinehart, a 13.5% stake in the junior explorer, pending shareholder approval at a general meeting in mid-October.

The funds raised from the transaction will be allocated towards White Cliff's expanded and accelerated drilling program at its Rae Copper Project in Nunavut, Canada, focusing on resource definition at the Danvers 1 discovery and step-out drilling at Danvers 2 and 3, as well as follow-up work at other regional targets. Managing Director Troy Whittaker hailed the investment as a major milestone for White Cliff and a testament to the strength of their project, noting that the current high prices of copper and the global supply shortage make the timing especially advantageous.

The stock briefly touched a session high of A$0.022, its strongest level since mid-June, before settling at A$0.019. White Cliff outperformed the Australian market, which saw the ASX 200 decline by 0.9%.