Lithium junior Charger Metals is expecting to receive A$1.2-million from Rio Tinto Exploration this week under a farm-in agreement for its Lake Johnston lithium project, in the Yilgarn of Western Australia.
A further A$500 000 Rio Tinto reimbursement of exploration expenditure is expected in January.
In total, Rio Tinto will potentially spend A$42.5-million to earn up to a 75% interest in the project.
Charger also announced a binding agreement with Lithium Australia to buy their minority interest in the Lake Johnston project, moving the company to a 100% beneficial ownership.
“The Rio Tinto Exploration farm-in agreement is an excellent result for Charger and its shareholders and is validation that the Lake Johnston project has potential to host a large-scale lithium deposit.
"The planned significant investment by RTX will allow thorough systematic exploration over the entire project tenure, with initial exploration focused on fast-tracking the Medcalf spodumene prospect, as well as progressing the Mt Day and Mt Gordon lithium prospects,” said Charger MD Aiden Platel.