Harry Dobson, boss of AIM newcomer Rambler Metals & Mining, says raising £8 million at 50p to develop the company's Newfoundland copper project has been the easiest fundraising he has ever completed in 30 years of mining experience. Robert Tyerman reports.

Rambler, whose newly listed shares have already gone to 64.5p, could have at least five million tonnes with a high copper content of 3.5 per cent, plus 2.5 grammes of gold per tonne, in Newfoundland's Beavert Peninsular and the deposit might contain between 30 and 40 million tonnes with more than two per cent copper plus gold credits, claims Dobson. He says £8 million is what it would cost to take the mine, which was once operated by the wealthy Irving family and was abandoned in the 1990s, back into production.

Monaco-based Dobson, who specialises in reviving disused mines, says Rambler intends to start a programme of drilling, exploration and de-watering at the mine. With copper trading at around $1.50 a lb, he says, with modern mining methods, the project should be profitable down to 65 cents a lb, though he argues the supply/demand and currency outlooks should keep the price well above that for the foreseeable future.

With copper hailed as the 'modern metal', used in the electronics industry, Rambler could repay a punt while current market sentiment persists. Staff members who put in pre-float seed funding at 1p a share are already laughing.