Everest Metals Corporation has paved the way for a new year battery metals hunt in WA’s Mid West region after announcing its intent to exercise an exclusive farm-in deal to earn a 51 per cent stake in the Mt Edon lithium, caesium and tantalum project. The deal follows a recent due diligence program that yielded encouraging RC drill results of up to 1220 parts per million lithium, 3670ppm rubidium and 354ppm caesium.
The agreement is subject to shareholder approval and could be rubber stamped as early as February at Everest’s looming EGM.
Edon’s acquisition was initially touted in October last year when the company secured an option to earn an interest in the project from private company Entelechy Resources. As part of Everest’s due diligence efforts, it agreed to bankroll an RC drilling program before making a final commitment. The program included 24 holes for 507m and the company seemingly saw enough to formalise its interest and pick up a slice of the asset.
Everest’s RC program was designed to follow up on a suite of solid rock chip sampling results from specimens collected across the site in earlier campaigns. Highlights from the programs include samples grading up to 2.7 per cent lithium oxide, 1046ppm caesium oxide and 5057ppm tantalum oxide.
According to the company, nine rock chip samples were collected from four outcropping locations across a pegmatite field spanning 6.4 km in its previous efforts. Following Everest’s RC drill program management says the pegmatites could be linked at depth.
Plans are now in place for a supplementary mapping program to support the company’s structural interpretation of the pegmatites.
Notably, Mt Edon is located about 5km south of Paynes Find, a former gold rush settlement which was historically mined for tantalum. Tantalum is frequently found in pegmatites, a coarse-grained rock that develops in the final stages of cooling magma, along with caesium and lithium.
Everest Metals Corporation Chief Operating Officer, Simon Phillips said:“EMC is pleased to announce its decision to exercise its right to farm into the Mt Edon LCT Pegmatite Project, subject to Shareholder approval. The company is pleased to have the opportunity to take the next step towards 51% ownership in a project with such an extensive array of pegmatite outcrops over six kilometres.
Everest also recently announced a joint venture deal with Rio Tinto Exploration, a wholly owned subsidiary of the namesake mining goliath to probe a raft of untested lithium targets at Everest’s Rover project near Sansdtone in WA.
The company’s decision to double down on its battery metals strategy is seemingly tied to the insatiable demand for the material. A recent report by Benchmark Minerals suggests by 2030 demand for lithium carbonate could reach 2.4 million tonnes, almost 1.8 million tonnes more than 2022 production estimates.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
