PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Tawana Resources has signed an option agreement to earn into the Bald Hill lithium mine, in Western Australia.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tawana will acquire all of the shares in Lithco for an option fee of A$25 000, payable immediately. The company can exercise the option at any time before the end of December for 50-million of its own shares.
Lithco has previously entered into a farm-in and joint venture (JV) agreement with Singapore-based Alliance Mineral Assets Limited (AMAL) over the Bald Hill project, under which it will spend a minimum of A$7.5-million on exploration, evaluation and feasibility studies before the end of December 2017.
Lithco will spend a further A$12.5-million in capital to upgrade and convert the Bald Hill plant for processing ore derived from the project, on infrastructure costs, prestripping activities and other expenditures.
On the completion of this expenditure, Lithco will have earned a 50% share of all the lithium mineral rights from the tenement.
Tawana CEO Mark Calderwood told shareholders on Monday that the completion of the Lithco acquisition could see Tawana rapidly advance towards spodumene production in JV with AMAL, subject to the completion of reserve and plant upgrades.
The Bald Hill project is adjacent to Tawana’s own Cowan project and covers some 791.3 km2.
“In addition to the active mining lease, the combined 950 km2 of the Cowan and Bald Hill tenement packages covering two very large pegmatites belts provide significant potential for further resource.”
The transaction is now subject to a successful due diligence and shareholder approval.
Tawana, which is listed on the ASX and JSE, also owns a lithium project in Namibia and an iron-ore project in Liberia.