MinRes ups Kali Metals stake

Chris Ellison’s Mineral Resources has boosted its stake in Kali Metals to 14 per cent, about a week after acquiring an almost 10 per cent shareholding.

Releasing a statement to the market last night, Kali Metals announced MinRes bought 5,813,702 shares on January 18.

This takes MinRes’s stake in Kali from 9.97 per cent, which was acquired on the first day of Kali's trading, to 14 per cent.

MinRes’s share in Kali Metals is separate from the 4.86 per cent shareholding of Mr Ellison’s private company, Wabelo.

Kali was spun-out from West Perth miner Kalamazoo Resources and Canadian goldminer Karora Resources, both of which are its biggest shareholders.

The lithium hopeful’s ASX debut was highly anticipated, starting trade on the ASX on January 8 after issuing 60 million shares priced at 25 cents each through a $15 million initial public offering.

Other high-profile businesspeople have backed Kali, including Western Australia-based celebrity photographer and MinRes employee Russell James, former MinRes director Tim Roberts and Navitas co-founder Rod Jones.

All three are in the top 20 holders, according to Kali’s ASX announcement in early January.

However, Kali has also copped a “speeding ticket” from the ASX with the company being asked to explain disclosure of a rock chip sampling program that identified spodumene at its Spargoville project.

In response, the company said there had been significant media coverage of Kali’s IPO that could have affected its price and value.

“In addition, immediately prior to the release of the announcement, Mineral Resources Limited, an ASX Top-50 company and prominent investor in small/mid-cap lithium exploration entities in Western Australia, lodged with ASX a ‘Notice of initial substantial holder’, disclosing it had a relevant interest in the company’s securities of 9.97 per cent,” Kali said last week.

“This was heavily covered in the media, and we suspect this, in conjunction with the existing media coverage, may also have had a material effect on the price and value of the company’s securities on 10 January 2024.”

Kali Metals traded at 54 cents a share, up 1.87 per cent as of 12.31pm AEDT today.