Altura said the cash being raised from a “select group of global investment funds” would be used for a study to double production capacity at its currently being developed project – due to produce first concentrate in the June quarter next year – as well as for exploration and working capital.

Half of the funding was provided by investment firm BlackRock, while MNN was told strong interest in the offering could have seen $45 million raised.

The pricing for the new shares of 20c each is at the mid-point of what the stock last traded at (27c), and what the shares were fetching 12 months ago (around 13c).

Altura’s namesake project, which has a start-up capacity of 220,000t of concentrate per annum, is being built with secured debt of US$110 million, with the final $77 million of that facility received by Altura late last month.

The initial $33 million was received in early August.

The backing for Altura closely follows junior stock Argosy reporting a A$15-17 million raising, and days after fellow Pilbara region lithium project developer Pilbara Minerals unveiled a multi-level deal with Chinese auto manufacturer Great Wall, including an equity investment of $26 million.

Shares in Altura were off 5.5% to 25c in early trade, capitalising the company at $436 million.

Pilbara, which is to initially produce 314,000tpa of concentrate, is capitalised at more than $1.1 billion.