PERTH: Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd, Australia’s largest private company, has agreed to acquire a 13.5% strategic stake in White Cliff Minerals Ltd, backing the junior explorer’s district-scale copper discovery in Canada’s Nunavut territory.

White Cliff said that Hancock will invest A$8,768,457 ($5.8 million) through a private placement of 515,791,601 new fully paid ordinary shares at 1.7 cents per share — the previous trading day’s closing price.

The investment is subject to shareholder approval under ASX Listing Rule 10.11 at an extraordinary general meeting expected to be held on or about Oct. 19, 2026. Completion is expected three business days after the meeting.

White Cliff said proceeds will be used to expand and accelerate drilling and exploration at its Rae Copper Project, focusing on the Danvers 1, Danvers 2 and Danvers 3 prospects, sediment-hosted copper targets, and regional exploration.

“The timing could not be more compelling,” Managing Director Troy Whittaker said in a statement. “Copper prices have reached record highs, supply is tightening and global demand continues to grow. The search for large, high-quality new copper discoveries has rarely been more important, and we believe Rae has the potential to become one of them.”

Whittaker called Hancock’s decision “a major milestone” and “powerful third-party validation” of the company’s exploration strategy.

The Rae Project’s Danvers prospect has returned drill intercepts including 175 meters at 2.5% copper and 8.66 grams per ton silver, 90 meters at 4% copper and 7.5 g/t silver, and 58 meters at 3.08% copper and 13.3 g/t silver. Step-out drilling at Danvers 2 returned 15 meters at 4.8% copper over more than 5 kilometers of strike, while Danvers 3 returned 20 meters at 6.64% copper and 79.24 meters at 1.59% copper.

The company also reported sediment-hosted copper mineralization at its Hulk target, with 2025 drilling returning 3.5 meters at 7.2% copper and 25 meters at 0.6% copper. White Cliff said 2026 diamond drilling has intersected visible chalcopyrite in all three completed holes, extending mineralization 3.7 kilometers east of a 2025 hole and expanding the interpreted footprint to approximately 6.3 square kilometers.

The subscription agreement is governed by Western Australian law and is conditional on ASX not indicating it will refuse official quotation of the shares and on shareholder approval. Either party may terminate the agreement for material breach or if conditions are not satisfied or waived by the required date.

The announcement was approved by White Cliff’s board. The company said the announcement was prepared for publication in Australia and does not constitute an offer of securities in the United States.