Junior exploration company Far East Gold has commenced trading on the Australian Stock Exchange after an initial public offering (IPO) that raised $11.73 million from investors.

The company has six advanced copper and gold projects – three in Indonesia and three in Queensland’s Drummond Basin and Connors Arc regions.

The Central Queensland projects are described as being highly prospective for epithermal gold and copper gold porphyry deposits and are in close proximity to world-class operational mine sites.

The Hill 212 gold project is a 1920ha EPM (exploration permit for minerals) where Far East Gold has secured the rights to a 90 per cent stake in the tenement through an up-front earn-in agreement.

The Blue Grass Creek gold project is a 2240ha EPM adjoining the Hill 212 tenement. Far East Gold has secured the rights to a 90 per cent interest in the tenement through an upfront earn-in agreement.

The Mount Clark West copper gold project is a 1912ha EPM in the highly prospective Connors Arc region.

The funds from the equity raise will be used to further advance the exploration activities on these projects and the Indonesian projects.

Far East Gold had a market capitalisation of $43 million at the IPO price and it has enjoyed a surge in share prices since the company began trading on Monday.

“Far East Gold is a company with the right combination of highly skilled people with on-ground experience working on quality projects at the right time,” chairman and co-founder Paul Walker said.

“As a junior explorer with advanced and highly prospective projects we are excited to continue our journey towards making Far East Gold a world-class, tier 1, multi-billion-dollar mining company and unlock significant value for our shareholders.”