Lithium exploration powerhouse Azure Minerals was awarded the Craig Oliver award at the RIU Explorers Conference in Fremantle on Tuesday.
The award is dedicated to the former Sundance Resources director and prominent West Australian who died in a plane crash in West Africa nearly 15 years ago.
Four companies were nominated for the Craig Oliver award, bestowed on a company that has shown excellence across all areas, with the judges declaring Azure Minerals the winner for 2024.
MD Tony Rovira said he was honoured to receive the award on behalf of the Azure Minerals team, after what has been a revolutionary year for the company.
“It is due to the combined effort of everyone that we have been so successful in the last 12 months,” Rovira said.
“The drilling has shown that the Andover lithium project is likely to be one of the very largest hard rock lithium deposits in the world.
“As a result of that excitement, we’ve had several takeover offers made for the company, and now we’re in the final processes of closing the latest takeover offer from SQM and Hancock Prospecting.
“It has been a great journey over the last 12 months just to prove to everyone that what we’ve always thought was there, is actually there.”
This year, the award was presented by Craig Oliver’s youngest daughter, Sascha Oliver.