en.Wedoany.com Reported - Stelar Metals (ASX:SLB) has completed a A$2.6 million placement, with the proceeds to fund the inaugural drilling program at the Hill of Leaders tungsten project. Under the placement terms, the company issued 13.1 million shares at A$0.20 per share, a 2.3% discount to the 15-day volume-weighted average price of A$0.205, with subscribers comprising new and existing sophisticated and professional investors.

The placement was completed as a single tranche within existing placement capacity. The funds raised will be directed to field work and drilling at Hill of Leaders, with the remainder allocated to other exploration, working capital, and issue costs. The drill rig is scheduled to be mobilized in August, with a planned 3,000-meter first-phase reverse circulation (RC) drilling program across three sections.

Executive Chairman Stephen Biggins stated that market support for the Hill of Leaders opportunity facilitated the completion of the placement, with the company targeting drill rig mobilization within three months of acquiring the project to test beneath the extensive outcropping mineralized veins.

Hill of Leaders is positioned as a strategic critical minerals opportunity. Current mapping indicates that the tungsten-bearing quartz veins and greisen system extend over 2 kilometers in strike length, with widths of up to 200 meters. This drilling program will test the depth, continuity, and grade of the system. SLB stated that this will be the first bedrock drilling beneath the outcropping veins at the project. Tungsten mineralization in the area was first discovered in 1951, with historical small-scale production.

The inaugural drilling program comes amid tight global tungsten supply, export restrictions imposed by China, and accelerated efforts by Western nations to secure critical mineral supplies.

Following the placement, the company's path forward is to complete settlement, mobilize the drill rig, and commence drilling at Hill of Leaders. The initial program will test three sections beneath the mapped vein system, generating the first actual drilling data to assess grade, continuity, and depth potential.