Legendary mining prospector Mark Creasy has topped up his stake in Azure Minerals, hoping to continue the momentum that has seen the battery metals explorer rapidly grow its value nearly tenfold over the past year.
Filings to the Australian Securities Exchange on Friday revealed that Mr Creasy’s Yandal Investments acquired $16 million of shares in Azure this week to take its shareholding from 12.1 per cent to 13.2 per cent.
They were acquired at an average of about $2.40 per share and further cement Mr Creasy’s position as Azure’s major shareholder.
The company’s core focus is the West Pilbara-based Andover project, which is prospective for a bevy of battery metals encompassing lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt.
Azure has a 60 per cent stake in Andover, with the remaining 40 per cent owned by Mr Creasy’s other key investment vehicle, the Creasy Group. In the space of less than two years Andover has evolved from a nickel-focused endeavour to a diversified battery metals project that has attracted plenty of market interest.
Mr Creasy’s increased stake in Azure will further tighten his grip of control for the project’s future.
Azure knocked back a $901m bid from industry giant SQM in August, describing the bid as “ underdone”. The company instead opted to tap investors for $120m later in the month to accelerate the development of Andover.
Azure’s share price has skyrocketed over the past year, rising about 950 per cent. Its shares traded at $2.40 by the close of trade Friday.