Mineral Resources boss Chris Ellison has labelled SQM's takeover of Azure Minerals as “dead in the water” while also shedding light on his lithium acquisition strategy.
Mineral Resources boss Chris Ellison has labelled SQM's takeover of Azure Minerals as “dead in the water” as he comments on the miner’s acquisitive streak of lithium interests.
The mining boss told reporters after Mineral Resources’ annual general meeting that from where he was sitting it looked like SQM’s $1.62 billion takeover bid for Azure Minerals was “dead in the water”.
He said there were three or four shareholders in the Andover project owner that were buyers, not sellers which could cause problems for the takeover proposal.
That comes after Azure endorsed Chilean lithium giant SQM’s binding on-market transaction after it acquired a strategic stake in the company, followed by MinRes and Hancock Prospecting taking up interests in the base metals explorer.
Famed explorer Mark Creasy has a 13.2 per cent stake in Azure as well as a 40 per cent direct holding in the Andover project in the Pilbara.
“If you have a look on the share register, you'll find it's probably about half a dozen different organisations that actually own almost all of Azure now,” Mr Ellison said.
“And I'm not sure if any of those are willing sellers, couple of them I'd imagine are, but there's probably three or four in there that are buyers.”
Mr Ellison squashed suggestions around whether he was working with Gina Rinehart or others to influence SQM's takeover outcome.
He said he’d be happy if he ended up with 15 to 20 per cent of the ore body, which he earlier described as a good ore body, in a good location.
“I think that somewhere down the track common sense will prevail, I don't know what, but you got to be in it to win it,” he said.
“I look at those ore bodies, not milking the share market, but I'm looking at having ownership of some of that dirt and that's a 30, 40 or 50 year deposit.
“Everyone would like to have it, so I'm not sure how it's going to play out, but I hope it plays out in a way that I'm part of it.”
When asked about Mark Creasy’s shareholding in the takeover target, Mr Ellison said “I’m sure that all of us would like to buy it, but its just a question of time and price.”
Speaking to shareholders at the AGM, Mr Ellison fielded questions about MinRes’s recent string of acquisitions for lithium interests and battery metal rights in the Pilbara and Goldfields, respectively.
Namely, MinRes’ 13.6 per cent stake in Azure, its 19.85 per cent interest in Wildcat Resources, its 17.44 per cent holding in Delta Lithium and interest in Global Lithium Resources, alongside its acquisition of the Bald Hill mine out of receivership.
The miner also recently struck a deal to secure the lithium and base metals rights at Pantoro’s Norseman gold project in the Goldfields under a $60 million deal.
Mr Ellison said the team were doing “some deals” in the Goldfields with some of the goldminers, who he said understood MinRes’ capability to turn deposits into mines.
The mining boss refused to be drawn on a dollar figure for the acquisition of Bald Hill mine from receivers, instead claiming there was no material value.
Mr Ellison said he was planning to double Bald Hill’s capacity to 300,000 tonnes per annum.
He was pressed on whether he had enough time to chair Delta after David Flanagan abruptly vacated his role, which Mr Ellison assured he had the resources to commit to.
He said he took over because there were a couple of deposits he really like but that he didn’t like the direction the explorer was going in.
Mr Ellison further commented that some junior miners were more interested in “milking the share market” than mining.
Other project updates include MinRes’ plan to put first ore on ship from the Onslow Iron Ore project on June 8, 2024 and its aim to have first gas in the pipeline by 2025.