Lithium Australia has confirmed exploration asset sale and joint venture terms with fledgling base and precious metal explorer Charger Metals, which has obtained conditional approval to list on the ASX after its $6 million IPO closed oversubscribed.
Lithium Australia says it will maintain a 30% interest in its Coates and Lake Johnston projects in Western Australia and the Bynoe property in the Northern Territory, via a joint venture with Charger. The lithium battery player will bank $100,000 and will become a major shareholder in the new company with shares valued at $1.92 million.
The Coates project lies in the highly prospective western Yilgarn nickel-copper-platinum group elements belt, which is only about an hour’s drive northeast of Perth. The project area is a stone’s throw from the exciting Julimar discovery of Chalice Mining and according to Charger, the Coates project exhibits very similar geology to Julimar, with significant nickel-copper-PGE geochemical anomalies.
Charger says the area warrants further exploration to test targets that are situated about 30km south-east of the rapidly developing Julimar discovery.
Several interpreted mafic-ultramafic units have been identified in the tenement block collectively referred to as the Coates mafic intrusive complex, which Charger suggests shows geophysical similarities with the Julimar complex. The township of Wundowie sits on the flanks of the Coates mafic intrusion, which interestingly also hosts a vanadium deposit that was mined briefly in the 1980s.
The Lake Johnston project, near Southern Cross in WA, is prospective for lithium, gold and nickel and has outcropping spodumene pegmatites, which are commonly a major source of lithium. Lithium Australia has said that reconnaissance geological mapping and geochemical sampling has identified samples ranging from 3.6-7.15 per cent lithium oxide. A stacked spodumene pegmatite cluster at the Bontempelli Hill prospect remains undrilled.
The Bynoe project, near Darwin in the NT, is highly prospective for lithium and gold and is surrounded by a package of Core Lithium tenements which incorporate the recent spectacular Finnis lithium discovery. Finnis hosts a measured, indicated and inferred resource of 14.7 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.32 per cent lithium oxide.
News of the new Charger JV deal comes on the heels of this week’s announcement by Lithium Australia of European patent protection for its unique lithium processing technology, LieNA.
Lithium Australia Managing Director Adrian Griffin said: "Lithium Australia retains significant exposure to raw materials through its equity in Charger, as well as its free-carried project interests. The latter potentially provide access to raw materials that the Lithium Australia group of companies can further process. Charger Metals’ specialised expertise will expedite a focused exploration effort, leaving Lithium Australia to concentrate on its core business: the ethical and sustainable supply of energy metals to the battery industry and the development of a circular battery economy.”
Lithium Australia’s agreement with Charger underlines its commitment to developing its LieNA lithium processing technology and if Charger makes good with its exploration efforts at the well-located prospects it will have a steady supply of spodumene to process plus exposure to its JV partner’s market upside.
With extra cash in the bank Lithium Australia has put itself in a strong position as it seeks to transition from explorer to lithium processor.
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By Matt Birney
