Sprott took the lead order of about C$1 million in Tarku's $2.5 million raising priced at 10c per unit.

Prior to the placement, Tarku had said about 80% was held by 20 insiders and major shareholders.

It planned to use the proceeds to advance exploration at its new Tombstone project in Arizona.

It had signed a final agreement in October to earn up to 75% over three years of 1,250ha in the historically-mined district.

"The more we investigate and uncover information from historical databases and records, the more we see the potential for Tombstone regaining the shine it once had as a major historical  silver district," president and CEO Julien Davy said at the time.

Under the agreement, Tarku must spend US$3 million on exploration within three years and produce an NI 43-101 report within the first two years.

It must also pay vendors Mansfield-Martin Exploration Mining 3 million in shares and $175,000 per year in cash and stock.

In a recent presentation, Tarku said it believed Tombstone's historical production averaging 25.89g/t silver was "the tip of the iceberg" of a porphyry-type copper-gold-silver deposit.

The Arizona projects adds to its "Three As projects" - namely Admiral, Apollo and Atlas - in Quebec, where it increased its land position in September.

Tarku last raised about C$785,000 at 6.5c per unit in August, for exploration in Quebec and general working capital.

Its shares have hovered around 9c for much of the past year.

They hit a one-year high of 22c intraday and closed up 12.5% on Friday to 18c, to value it at $5 million (US$3.7 million).