Firebird Metals Ltd (ASX: FRB) shares listed on the ASX last Thursday at an initial public offering (IPO) offer price of 20 cents per share and indicative market capitalisation of $10 million. The Firebird share price more than doubled to open at 46 cents, ran as high as 64.5 cents before closing at 59.5 cents on Thursday.
Here's why investors are hyped about the Firebird share price.
Firebird Metals overview
Firebird was initially an unlisted public company, incorporated on 4 January 2016 as Forrestania Pty Ltd. Its parent company is the listed explorer, Firefly Resources Ltd (ASX: FFR). On 18 December 2020, Firefly announced it would demerge its Oakover manganese project. The spin-out resulted in Firebird as a standalone listing on the ASX.
Firebird holds an interest in, or has entered into agreements to acquire, several projects.
The Oakover Project comprises one granted exploration license and two exploration applications. The project is situated approximately 90 km east of Newman in Western Australia's East Pilbara Manganese Province.
The Hill 616 Project comprises one granted exploration licence, located within the Southeast Pilbara region of Western Australia approximately 85 km south-east of Newman. And finally, the Disraeli Project comprises one pending exploration licence application and is also near the Newman region.
The company will use the IPO funds to further explore and develop the projects. This includes the completion of infill and extensional drilling at the Oakover Project, targeting resource expansion and increased definition of higher grade domains, a systematic exploration of the Hill 616 and Disraeli projects to deliver a maiden JORC resource and the pursuit of other resource and acquisition opportunities that have a strategic fit for the company.
What's driving the Firebird share price?
The Firebird share price got off to a stellar start on the ASX. The company's portfolio of projects is focused on manganese, often used in a variety of important alloys and batteries. Firebird highlights manganese as the fourth most utilised metal globally and the cheapest, most abundant of the nickle, manganese, cobalt (NMC) cathode materials.
With a heightened level of global investment and commitment to renewable technology and electric vehicles, Firebird believes manganese is perfectly placed to deliver future growth opportunities.
At the time of writing, Firebird shares are trading 3.67% higher for the day at 56.5 cents with a market cap of around $28 million.
