Lithium Love Gun Locked and Loaded for New World Metals Investment Series
THE CONFEENCE CALLER: Azure Minerals fired its first shot from the lithium Love Gun in the lead up to the 2022 South-West Connect ASX Showcase in Busselton.
Azure Minerals (ASX: AZS)
Before the 2022 South-West Connect ASX Showcase, Azure had reported identification of numerous lithium, caesium and tantalum (LCT) pegmatites within the company’s Andover project, located in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia.
At the time, Azure hadn’t really got a handle on the lithium potential of the project with managing director Tony Rovira delivering a guarded statement to the ASX, declaring, “Azure’s primary focus is on the exploration and development of the nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide resources that we have discovered at Andover.
“We recognise that the presence of spodumene-bearing, lithium-rich pegmatites could add significant value to the overall Andover project, which aligns with increasing our exposure to clean and valuable energy metals.”
Somebody must have been paying closer attention to Rovira’s South-West Connect presentation than first thought, as just a couple of months later global lithium company Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A., via its wholly-owned subsidiary SQM Australia Pty Ltd completed a cornerstone investment of $20 million to acquire a 19.99 per cent interest in Azure.
Since then, Azure has released a series of lithium hits from what was once its nickel-copper-cobalt sulphide project, culminating in an encounter with a broad zone of lithium mineralisation intersected in the project’s AP0011 pegmatite of:
ANRD00171
209.4 metres at 1.42 per cent lithium oxide (Li2O) from 219m (~134.6m True Width), including 126.2m at 1.72 per cent Li2O from 219m (~81.1m True Width), including 56.1m at 2 per cent Li2O from 257m (~36.1m True Width); and
19.7m at 1.54 per cent Li2O from 401.6m (~12.7m True Width).
Not only have the lithium hits continued to grow, so has the company’s share price, reaching $2.93 (22/8/23).
It was hardly surprising then that the company announced receiving firm commitments to raise $120 million through a two-tranche placement for the issue of 50 million new fully-paid ordinary shares at an offer price of $2.40 per New Share.
Tranche 1 of the placement raised approximately $100 million and Tranche 2 of the placement, which includes the issue of New Shares subject to shareholder approval, is set to raise approximately $20 million.
Azure Minerals is to be a featured presenter at the upcoming New World Metals Investment Series Roadshow.
We at The Roadhouse, however, will be interested to see how other lithium hopefuls fare at the podium.
Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN)
Galan Lithium is another to have enjoyed success in the lithium space, be it far from the local climes of Western Australia.
The company’s 100 per cent-owned Hombre Muerto West has recently been the subject of a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS), Phase 1 of which delivered an annual production rate of 5,367 recoverable tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) contained in a concentrated lithium chloride product for a period of 40 years.
The Phase 1 DFS results and analysis provided solid outcomes that showed the HMW project was a very competitive and highly compelling project in the lithium brine industry.
Galan had previously announced, the DFS was separated into two phases.
This initial Phase 1 of the DFS focused on the production of a lithium chloride concentrate, as governed by the production permits.
DFS optimisation work continues and will culminate in the release of a Phase 2 DFS in September 2023, addressing full 20,000 tonnes per annum LCE production rate.
Still in Argentina, Galan recently acquired 100 per cent-ownership of the Catalina tenement that borders the Catamarca and Salta Provinces in Argentina.
“This acquisition represents a highly significant value accretive transaction for the company,” Galan Lithium managing director JP Vargas de la Vega explained.
“It resolves the security of tenure in this highly prospective area favourably for the exclusive benefit of Galan and its shareholders.
“As there are now no competing interests, our team can advance exploration and evaluation activities at Catalina with the objective of delineating a maiden resource.
“Furthermore, we plan to accelerate such work and look forward to keeping our shareholders informed of our progress.”
Pan Asia Metals (ASX: PAM)
Pan Asia Metals’ claim to fame was being the “only lithium explorer in South-East Asia”.
Not a bad place to be when you consider Asia accounts for over half the world’s annual vehicle production, however recent acquisitions have seen the company move into South America, in particular Chile.
The company wasted little time before commencing field work at the Hilix lithium prospect, one of seven target prospect areas that form the Tama Atacama lithium project.
“The Hilix lithium prospect is an easy project, located five minutes drive from the Quillagua village, with Chile’s main north south transport and power infrastructure adjacent to the project,” Pan Asia Metals managing director Paul Lock said.
“The lithium mineralisation is found in an approx. 30 metres thick layer of soft friable, porous, typically white, clay rich sediments which start at or near surface.
“Although yet to be tested, general observations suggest the mineralisation is homogeneous in nature and laterally extensive and is considered amenable to a wide spaced drill pattern which will facilitate a relatively cheap and quick pathway to an inaugural Mineral Resource later this year.”
Infinity Lithium Corporation (ASX: INF)
Infinity Lithium has its eyes on the development prize of the company’s 75 per cdent-owned San José lithium project in Spain.
Like the country’s Women’s Football Team, Infinity has World Cup scale ambitions for its proposed fully integrated industrial project with a focus on production of battery grade lithium chemicals from a mica feedstock that represents the EU’s second largest JORC compliant hard rock lithium deposit.
Infinity Lithium has aspirations for the project to ultimately provide an essential component in the EU’s development of a vertically integrated lithium-ion battery supply chain.
The EU is no different to any jurisdiction a present looking to lock in supply of critical raw materials and the production of battery grade lithium hydroxide to ensure the long-term production of lithium-ion batteries for electric mobility and the transition of the EU’s automotive industry towards electric vehicles.
Jindalee Resources (ASX: JRL)
Earlier this year, Jindalee resources released an updated MRE at the company’s McDermitt lithium project in the United States.
The MRE for McDermitt contains a combined Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Inventory of 3 billion tonnes at 1,340ppm lithium for a total of 21.5 million tonnes LCE at 1,000ppm cut-off grade.
Jindalee claims that at 21.5 million tonnes LCE, McDermitt is the largest lithium deposit in the US by contained lithium in Mineral Resource.
Not much later, Jindalee commenced a PFS on the McDermitt lithium project announcing the appointment of Fluor as lead engineer, a company with extensive US sediment hosted lithium deposit experience.
Jindalee sees the PFS as the next logical step towards development of McDermitt that it expects to facilitate meaningful discussions with potential financiers (both public and private sector), off-takers and strategic partners.
Lithium Energy (ASX: LEL)
Lithium Energy recently established a maiden 3.3 million tonnes JORC-compliant Inferred Mineral Resource of LCE at the company’s 90 per cent-owned Solaroz lithium brine project in Argentina.
Lithium Energy is now considering development options for Solaroz with a Scoping Study soon to be finished.
All alternative lithium extraction technologies are under the microscope, which as seen the company execute an agreement to manufacture and commission a 3,000 tonnes per annum battery grade lithium carbonate demonstration plant on the Mario Angel concession at Solaroz, using the proprietary sorbent-based DLE technology of Lanshen.
The structure of the agreement for the construction and commissioning of the DLE Plant, in which Lanshen will supply, build and initially operate the plant at its own cost reduces the upfront capital costs in evaluating this DLE production option for Solaroz.
Burley Minerals (ASX: BUR)
Burley Minerals acquired 100 per cent ownership of the Chubb lithium project in Québec, Canada earlier this year.
The Chubb lithium project sits in a good neighbourhood, smack bang in the heart of the world-class lithium province of Quebec, which hosts major lithium projects including Sayona Mining (ASX: SYA) and Piedmont Lithium Inc’s North American Lithium (NAL) mines and operations.
Burley kicked off its drilling campaign at Chubb in early April 2023, however, as is the case in most of Canada this year bushfires interrupted proceedings.
Despite these interruptions, diamond drilling has been undertaken with assays returned from the Chubb Central Main Dyke confirming spodumene-bearing pegmatite with a strike length of at least 560m, extending from surface to below 200m depth.
Diamond drilling is ongoing to test for extensions to the Chubb project, Central Main Dyke both along strike and at depth, as well as for spodumene in mapped parallel pegmatites dykes.
Future Battery Minerals (ASX: FBM)
Future Battery Minerals has gone from an initial 5,000 metres of drilling to a further 6,000m of drilling at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Kangaroo Hills lithium project (KHLP) in Western Australia.
While undertaking Phase 3 reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling (DD) programs at the Rocky Prospect, Future Battery Minerals identified multiple new stacked spodumene bearing pegmatites semi parallel to the project’s Big Red lithium pegmatite.
The new intersections resulted in an increase in the scale of the pegmatite swarm and potential tonnage at Kangaroo Hills, which has been confirmed over a 1.2 x 1.5km area and remains open in all directions.
As a consequence, Future Battery Minerals has expanded the drill program with an additional 6,000m of RC drilling, with which it aims to further test additional extensions at Big Red and Rocky, as well as assess other regional prospects at Eastern Grey, Wallaroo and Pademelon.
To date, drilling at Rocky has only tested the western margin of the pegmatites on a wide spaced grid.
The expanded program will test the pegmatites towards the east and south directions, employing more closely spaced drilling technique suitable for the completion of a MRE.
Latin Resources (ASX: LRS)
In June, Latin Resources upgraded the Colina MRE at the company’s 100 per cent-owned Salinas lithium project in Brazil.
The company increased the JORC Measured, Indicated and Inferred MRE for the expanded Colina deposit by over 241 per cent to a total of 45.2 million tonnes at 1.34 per cent Li2O, reported above a cut-off of 0.5% Li2O.
This upgraded resource of 45 million tonnes represents a LCE of approx. 1.48 million tonnes.
Not long after, the company confirmed an extension of the Colina pegmatite system via drill testing of a ‘blind’ geophysical target, 560m to the southwest of the Colina, where three of four holes completed intersected shallow east dipping, course grained spodumene rich pegmatites.
Outcrop mapping undertaken six kilometres to the southwest of the Colina deposit, subsequently identified a third new pegmatite occurrence within the company’s interpreted prospective corridor.
T company considers these achievements highlight the further potential scale and growth of the Colina deposit.
Lithium Universe (ASX: LU7)
Lithium Universe came to market attention by ending its opening day of ASX trading at 6.1 cents, a healthy opening dividend from its IPO that raised $4.5 million at 0.02 cents per share.
Lithium Universe has a wide-reaching portfolio of lithium exploration assets in regions well known for discovery of the electronic feedstock in both Australia and Canada.
The company’s stated objective is to establish itself as a “prominent lithium project builder by prioritising swift and successful development of lithium projects”.
The company’s initial target is its Apollo lithium project, covering 240sqkm in the Eeyou Istchee Baie-James Municipality (James Bay), in north-west Québec, Canada.
The project has some well-credentialed neighbours, namely Patriot Battery Metals’ (ASX: PMT) Corvette Property with a maiden resource of 109.2 million tonnes at 1.42 per cent Li2O and Winsome Resources’ (ASX: WR1) Adina Property.
Solis Minerals (ASX: SLM)
Solis Minerals announced it had acquired the Jaguar hard rock Lithium project in Bahia State Brazil in May this year.
It didn’t take long for the news to flow and in July Solis announced drilling had intersected shallow-dipping coarse spodumene rich pegmatites at Jaguar in two initial diamond holes.
JADDH00002 intersected 52m of pegmatite with 8.2m of spodumene rich quartz bearing central core area from 32m downhole; and
JADDH00003 intersected 39.3m of pegmatite with 7.9m of spodumene rich quartz bearing central core area from 44.3m downhole.
“As we extend our mapping and geochemical sampling programs, we are finding evidence of a potential stacked pegmatite system,” Solis Minerals executive director Matt Boyes said.
“Multiple spodumene bearing float samples have been collected up to one kilometre from the central Jaguar artisanal mine area and large outcropping pegmatites, which are completely untested, have been located.
“We are encouraged by our early results at the Jaguar project, and we look forward to updating the market as we deliver results from this maiden drill program.”
European Metals Holdings (ASX: EMH)
The importance of European Metals Holdings’ Cínovec lithium/tin project in the Czech Republic to Europen lithium security was emphasised when the project received a recent visit from the Czech Republic Prime Minister, Petr Fiala.
“Lithium is a critical and key raw material,” Prime Minister Fiala said after his visit.
“Cínovec is the largest European deposit of this raw material.
Thanks to this, the Czech Republic has a unique opportunity to contribute to both its own and European raw material security.
“We are on the threshold of a ‘lithium revolution’ as the use of lithium will grow significantly.
“As a country with a large share of the automotive industry, it is important for us to support it and capture current trends.”
European Metals later reported that ongoing test work had achieved continued outstanding lithium recoveries.
A Definitive Feasibility Study is being undertaken on the Cinovec project and is on track for completion in Q4 2023.