Tiago Cunha Announces Acquisition of Shares in South Star Battery Metals Corp.
South Star’s CEO doubles down with massive share purchases as the Santa Cruz graphite mine sputters back to life, but the ghost of Sprott’s exit still haunts the balance sheet.
On May 15, 2026, South Star closed the first tranche of a heavily upsized non‑brokered private placement. The offering was boosted from C$4.0 M to C$4.8 M, and the first tranche raised C$2.312 M via 15.4 M shares at C$0.15. Every share was taken up by a fund controlled by interim CEO Tiago Cunha. As a result, Cunha’s ownership jumped to 38.23 % (non‑diluted) / 45.25 % (partially diluted). The company plans a final closing by May 29.
This comes two weeks after the initial placement announcement (May 6) and just weeks after South Star formally abandoned discussions with Sprott (April 28). The plant restarted ahead of schedule in April, but the company remains reliant on insider‑led financings to reach a targeted 10 000 tpa production.
The most recent news is the closing of a previously announced, insider‑dominated private placement. Although the upsize and the CEO’s outsized commitment are positive signals of confidence, the transaction is incremental and widely expected. No new external strategic investor emerged; instead, the CEO had to trim his subscription to “accommodate strategic shareholder demand,” indicating that other existing holders stepped in.
The broader context is more sobering. South Star has just walked away from Sprott’s streaming/bridge‑loan structure, which would have provided non‑dilutive capital. The current C$4.8 M placement is barely enough for the next phase of capex, and further dilution is likely. Moreover, the stock is languishing near multi‑year lows, and the company has no announced offtake or downstream partnership.
Consequently, the news is routine rather than transformative. It confirms funding for the immediate plan but does not alter the risk profile or the trajectory of the company.
South Star Battery Metals Corp. is a Canada‑listed junior miner focused on natural flake graphite. Its only active asset is the Santa Cruz Graphite Mine in Bahia, Brazil. The mine achieved first commercial production in mid‑2025, shipping the first graphite concentrate from the Americas since 1996. Phase 1 nameplate capacity is 12 000 tpa of concentrate; fully permitted expansions (Phases 2 & 3) could lift output to 50 000 tpa.
The BamaStar graphite project in Alabama was scrapped in March 2026 after a review of project economics, freeing up management’s focus for Santa Cruz. The company has stated it remains interested in a downstream processing partnership in the United States that would be supplied from Brazil.
The property is not currently subject to any metal stream, as the Sprott streaming agreement was terminated in April 2026. There is no indication of third‑party royalties in the available disclosures, so the project is effectively royalty‑free.