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Metals Australia Ltd (ASX: MLS) (“Metals Australia” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that drilling is set to commence to test priority targets identified at the Company’s Big Bell North tenements (EL51/2058 and EL51/2059) in Western Australia’s world-class Murchison Gold Province. The tenements lie within the regional structural corridor which hosts major gold deposits including the Meekatharra and Mt Magnet gold mining centres (Figure 2).
HIGHLIGHTS
- Up to 4,500m aircore drilling program set to commence testing priority greenstone-splay, fault-hosted gold targets interpreted under cover at Big Bell North, along strike from the 5Moz Big Bell Mine and Garden Gully Projects in Western Australia’s world-class Murchison Gold Province.
- The Big Bell North tenements cover an extensive 337km2 area where little previous exploration has been carried out due to extensive regional soil cover and the historic lack of recognition of greenstone lithologies.
- Interpretation of recently completed aeromagnetic and gravity surveys has defined greenstone-splay fault priority drilling targets on both the eastern and western zones of the Big Bell North tenements.
- Drilling will initially focus on the Eastern Zone over a 9km north-south trend interpreted to be a faulted greenstone corridor (interpreted to be 700-1,400m wide) splaying from the regional scale Chunderloo Shear Zone. This setting is identical to the Garden Gully highgrade gold project, immediately along strike to the northeast, held by Ora Gold Ltd (OAU).
- The Eastern Zone drill targets have been further refined to align magnetic lows from the aeromagnetic survey with strong positive gravity survey responses, indicative of denser greenstones (dominated by prospective mafic rocks) in the interpreted shear zone. Shear zones associated with magnetic lows commonly coincide with quartz veining/alteration2.
- Soil sampling is also underway across the Western Zone target. Subject to results, a drilling program will follow to test bedrock targets for buried gold deposits at the Western Zone, where shallower cover exists.
- Anomalous gold results in the aircore drilling programs will be followed up with deeper RC drilling to test across the gold-anomalous structures.
Figure 1: Metals Australia - Critical Minerals and gold exploration projects in world-class mineral terranes (adapted from Geoscience Australia, Australian Mineral Deposits)
Metals Australia Ltd CEO Paul Ferguson commented:
“The drilling program we are set to commence at our highly prospective Big Bell North gold project in Western Australia’s prolific Murchison Gold Province is the latest step in the Company’s aggressive push to unlock value from our suite of gold and critical mineral projects, which are all located in wellestablished mining regions in Australia and Canada.”
Our Big Bell North project, where there has been no modern-day exploration, has advanced rapidly during 2024 on the back of a methodical, phased exploration approach from our geological team. This started with an extensive fixed wing aeromagnetic survey covering over 5,200-line km which yielded two interpreted shear zones of significance.
We followed this up with detailed gravity survey work, which revealed the likelihood of greenstones within the shear zones. This is significant because gold mineralisation within the Murchison domain is often concentrated within such greenstone belts and is structurally controlled, thus enhancing the potential of the targets we are now set to drill.
In addition to Big Bell North, we continue to advance plans for an extensive soil survey and follow-on drilling program at the Warrego East copper-gold project in the Northern Territory, which is on track to commence later this year, ahead of the wet season, once permitting and land access arrangements are finalised.
We are also awaiting results and interpretation from two other recently completed exploration programs at Warrambie in the Pilbara, where our aircore drilling program has been completed; and our Corvette River project in Quebec’s James Bay region in Canada, where assay results from the phase one field program are imminent. Exploration at Corvette River is extensively focused on gold, silver, base metals (Cu-Pb-Zn) and lithium.
At our flagship Lac Carheil high-grade flake graphite project in Quebec, positive dialogue continues as we seek to build alignment on the project’s benefits with all stakeholders. Our significant cash reserves leave us well-placed to accelerate our various exploration programs as we continue striving to unlock the true value of our suite of projects in Australia and Canada.”
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This article includes content from Metals Australia, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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Metals Australia
Overview
Metals Australia (ASX:MLS) is a mineral exploration company with a high-quality portfolio of advanced battery minerals and metals projects in Tier 1 mining jurisdictions of Western Australia and Canada. The portfolio comprises two critical minerals projects in Quebec, Canada — the Lac Carheil flake graphite project and the Corvette River lithium (and gold) project. The Australian portfolio comprises four projects: Tennant Creek (copper-gold) in the Northern Territory and Warrambie (lithium, nickel-copper, gold), Murchison (gold) and Manindi (lithium, vanadium-titanium, zinc) – all in Western Australia.
The push for net zero targets and the call from policymakers to transition to cleaner energy has intensified the focus on electric vehicles (EVs) and battery storage. The EV automakers and battery manufacturers, rely on essential materials such as graphite and metals, including lithium, nickel, copper and cobalt, to manufacture the batteries that are used in these vehicles and storage batteries generally. This has driven carmakers and battery manufacturers to partner with battery material suppliers under direct off-take agreements. Further, some automakers/battery manufacturers are buying equity stakes in miners, involving them directly in financing decisions for the development of mining projects. This is encouraging for companies such as Metals Australia as it actively advances its projects towards development.
Figure 2 – Graphite is a Critical Mineral required for the mass electrification of auto transportation.
Metals Australia is focused on progressing its flagship Lac Carheil flake graphite project in Quebec, Canada. The project is well-positioned to supply high quality graphite products, including battery-grade graphite to the North American market – including for lithium-ion and EV battery production in the future. The company announced positive sampling results across a 36-km strike length of identified graphite trends at Lac Carheil, including many values over 20% Cg and an exceptionally high-grade sample containing over 63% Cg. The company has planned a drilling program to test new high-grade zones identified from the sampling program, which will form the basis for upgrading the existing Lac Carheil Mineral Resource. An application for the drilling program is progressing with the Quebec regulator. Additionally, the company has recently commenced a Flake Graphite concentrate prefeasibility study with Lycopodium in Ontario and a downstream battery anode plant design with ANZAPLAN in Germany.
Metals Australia is also advancing its lithium, gold and silver exploration project at Corvette River, which is adjacent to Patriot Battery Metals’ world-class lithium project. Further, the company carries out aggressive exploration programs at its other projects, including Manindi, Warrambie & the Murchison in Western Australia and Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory region of Australia.
Metals Australia is well-funded to complete all its planned exploration and project studies. The cash position at the end of Q1 2024 was AU$17.86 million, which we note was higher than the company’s market capital at current share price. Metals Australia benefits from a team of professionals boasting extensive expertise in geology and mining. The appointment of experienced mining executive Paul Ferguson as the CEO is positive for the company. Since joining in January 2024, he has significantly advanced planning and preparation for the exploration, metallurgical test work programs, and design studies required to move its flagship Lac Carheil high-grade graphite project towards development. The Corvette Project has also completed exploration planning and is now fully permitted for drilling and trenching work during the northern hemisphere summer.
Company Highlights
- Metals Australia is rapidly advancing its flag ship Lac Carheil Graphite Project in Quebec, Canada. In addition, the company has a suite of high-quality exploration projects – including Lithium, Gold and Silver in Quebec, Canada and Lithium, Gold, Copper & Vanadium in Western Australia (WA) and the Northern Territory (NT).
- All projects are in Tier-1 mining jurisdictions (Canada and Australia) with world-class prospectivity and stable geo-politically.
- The company has six key exploration and development projects:
- two in Canada: the Lac Carheil high-grade flake graphite project and the Corvette River lithium and gold-silver-copper exploration project, and,
- four in Australia: Warrambie (lithium, nickel-copper, gold), Murchison (gold) and Manindi (lithium, vanadium-titanium, zinc-silver) in WA, and Tennant Creek (Warrego East copper-gold) in the NT.
- The focus is to rapidly advance its flagship Lac Carheil Graphite Project towards development. A drilling program is already contracted to substantially increase the existing JORC 2012 Mineral Resource of 13.3 Mt @ 11.5 percent graphitic carbon (Cg) and test the potential of the many other identified high-grade graphite trends.
- The 2020 Scoping Study on Lac Carheil based on the existing resource, representing only 1km of drilling out of the total 36kms of identified graphite trends, indicates a 14-year mine life with a production of 100,000 tons per annum and a pre-tax NPV @ 8 percent of US$123 million (~AUD$190 million).
- There are multiple catalysts at Lac Carheil in the near term including a pre-feasibility study (PFS) (underway), a scoping study on downstream battery (anode) - grade graphite production, and planned drilling aiming to at least double the resource as well as test other identified high-grade graphite trends.
- Furthermore, other projects in Canada including the Corvette River lithium and gold targets, and exploration in Australia at Manindi, Warrambie, Murchison and Warrego – are all seeing active progress.
- The company is well-funded to complete all its planned exploration and project studies. The cash position at the end of Q1 2024 was AU$17.86 million.
- Metals Australia is led by a seasoned board and management team possessing extensive mining sector experience and a proven track record of successful discoveries and project developments. With funding in place, the company is well-positioned to capitalise on growth prospects.
Key Projects
Canada
Lac Carheil Flake Graphite Project (MLS 100%)
Conceptual 3D Mining layout from February 2021 Scoping Study (Lac Carheil Project formerly named Lac Rainy Project)
The Lac Carheil Graphite Project is located in eastern Quebec, Canada, a tier 1 mining jurisdiction with access to excellent infrastructure, including hydroelectric power facilities. The project hosts an existing JORC 2012 mineral resource of 13.3 million tons (Mt) @ 11.5 percent graphitic carbon, which was announced in 2020 and a scoping study was completed and reported on in early 2021. Battery test work followed, in Germany, and this demonstrated the Lac Carheil Graphite concentrate could be shaped, purified, coated and used in battery applications with excellent results. Given the above work, the company carried out further field work, recently announcing exceptionally high-grade sampling results from 80 samples on 10 identified graphitic trends across the property. This included a sample containing 63 percent graphitic carbon, and 10 samples containing over 20% Cg. The average grade of the sampling was 11% Cg, which is comparable to the current high-grade resource. The combined strike length of the identified high-grade graphitic zones is over 36 kms. This compares to just 1 km of drilling on 1.6 kms of graphite trend that was utilised to obtain the existing resource. The potential for expanding and upgrading the existing resource remains enormous.
Figure 4 –Lac Carheil Graphite Project - Electromagnetic imagery outlining graphite trends and the resource
Additional drilling and development studies are either planned or are already underway, including a pre-feasibility study for a high grade Flake graphite concentrate product – which has commenced and a downstream purification options assessment and a scoping study for a battery anode facility in North America, which has been contracted. The company also announced it is contract ready for its planned drilling program and will fast-track the program as soon as permits are received from the Quebec regulator.
Corvette River Lithium Project (MLS 100%)
Corvette River Lithium, gold and silver Project is located in Quebec’s James Bay region Metals Australia recently announced that it is fully permitted to advance an extensive field exploration program across its holdings which include the wholly owned East Pontois, Felicie and West Pontois projects, situated within Patriot Battery Metals' (ASX:PMT) CV Lithium Trend, as well as tenements at West and East Eade in the company's parallel Corvette River South Trend. A field mapping and sampling program concluded last year and identified large, potentially lithium-bearing pegmatites immediately along strike from Patriot Battery Metals’ world-class lithium pegmatite discoveries. Additionally, the company has flagged significant gold and silver samples from its review of work previously completed across the field as is illustrated in the diagram below.
Figure 5 – The Corvette Projects in the James Bay region of Canada. Prospective for Lithium, Gold & Silver
Australian Projects
Warrambie Project (MLS 80%)
The Warrambie project is located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It is 20 kms west of the Andover Lithium discovery (Azure Minerals (ASX:AZS). Metals Australia has completed geophysical surveys across the area and is identifying targets for further field exploration and drilling.
Warrego East Project (MLS 80%)
Metals Australia acquired the tenements as part of a package purchased from Payne Gully Gold in 2022. The company’s tenements include a granted exploration license (E32725) directly along strike to the east of the Warrego copper-gold deposit, which has a production of 1.45 Million Ounces of gold at 8 grams per tonne and over 90,000 tonnes of Copper at 2%. The Warrego mine operated from the late 1950’s through until 1989. It was found under sedimentary cover. The area and this land package is under detailed review utilizing available geophysical surveys. The company aims to identify further targets hidden under shallow sediment cover.
Big Bell North Project (MLS 80%)
The Murchison tenements were also acquired as part of the Payne Gully Gold transaction. Metals Australia owns exploration licenses at the Murchison gold project, which is adjacent to the >5 million ounces (Moz) Big Bell gold deposit. The company plans to conduct detailed magnetics and gravity surveys to test for extensions and repeats of high-grade gold deposits.
Manindi Project (MLS 80%)
The Manindi project is located in the Murchison District, approximately 500 kms northeast of Perth in Western Australia. The project comprises three mining leases and has an established high-grade zinc mineral resource. The metallurgical test work has located spodumene in samples from a high-grade lithium intersection of 12m @ 1.38 percent lithium oxide, including 3m @ 2.12 percent lithium oxide. The company also made a new vanadium-titanium discovery at the Manindi project.Management Team
Paul Ferguson – Chief Executive Officer
A Mining Engineer, Paul Ferguson has over three decades of experience in the resources and energy sectors across North America, Asia and Australia. He has extensive project development and operational experience working in Canada. He has worked in oil & gas major ExxonMobil across project stages, including feasibility, design, construction, and operation. He has worked in Executive level roles within Australia, including at GMA Garnet and held increasingly more senior roles with BHP (Iron Ore & Coking Coal) and then with Exxon Coal Minerals and Mobil Oil Australia during the early stages of his career.
Tanya Newby – CFO and Joint Company Secretary
Tanya Newby is a finance and governance professional with over 20 years experience in various corporate and commercial roles. She has a strong background in the resources sector and has provided financial advice and assistance to a number of publicly listed entities through exploration, project development through to the production stage. Tanya is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Member of the Governance Institute of Australia and a Graduate Member of the Institute of Company Directors.
Michael Muhling – Joint Company Secretary
Michael Muhling has over two decades of experience in the resources, including 15 years in senior roles with ASX-listed companies. He is a fellow of CPA Australia, The Chartered Governance Institute, and the Governance Institute of Australia.
John Dugdale – Technical Advisor
John Dugdale is a geologist with over 35 years of experience in the discovery and development of graphite, lithium, gold, nickel and copper projects. His corporate experience includes serving as a director and CEO of several junior resource companies focused on nickel-cobalt, graphite and copper-gold projects. Additionally, he has experience in funds management with Lion Selection Group.
Chris Ramsay – General Manager Geology
Chris Ramsay is a geologist and project manager with over 25 years of experience in the global mining industry. He has been involved in exploration, mine development and operations for mining projects in Australasia, Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa and North America.
Board
Michael Scivolo – Non-executive Chairman
Michael Scivolo has extensive accounting and taxation experience for corporate and non-corporate entities. He was a partner/director at a CPA firm until 2011 and has since been consulting in accounting and taxation. Scivolo is on the boards of several ASX-listed mining companies, including Sabre Resources, Golden Deeps and Tennant Minerals Ltd.
Alexander Biggs – Non-executive Director
Alexander Biggs has over 20 years of experience in the mining and engineering sector. During his career, he has been involved in various activities, including operations, consulting, finance and capital raising. He is currently the managing director of Lightning Minerals (ASX) and was previously the managing director of Critical Resources (ASX:CRR). Biggs is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and a graduate of the Western Australian School of Mines.
Rachelle Domansky – Non-executive Director
Rachelle Domansky is an ESG specialist and a consulting psychologist for businesses, governments and educational institutions in the Asia-Pacific region. In addition to Metals Australia, Rachelle holds non-executive board positions at Quebec Lithium and Access Plus WA Deaf.
Basil Conti – Non-executive Director
Basil Conti has been associated with the mining industry for over 25 years. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia & NZ and was a partner/director of a chartered accounting firm in West Perth until 2015.
Drilling Targets Defined – Bananal Valley tenement, Lithium Valley, Brazil
Highlights
Work Undertaken
- Assays received from 100 and 200 metre spaced soil sampling lines with soil samples taken at 50 metre intervals.
- Lithium anomalies identified over the 1.5 km strike extent of the soil grid with coincident Be, Rb, Sn and Tl anomalies.
- No lithium anomalies found in areas of laterite however tin anomalies as well as quartz and tourmaline occurrences suggest pegmatite extensions under the laterite.
- Drill holes defined so environmental permits can be obtained to allow drilling to take place.
Future Workplan
- Obtain environmental permits for drilling
- Extra soil lines in the NW of tenement to follow up anomalies previously defined
- Continue detailed mapping to refine currently identified pegmatite trends
- Drilling of the lithium targets identified.
Details
Results from exceptionally high value stream sediment sample have been followed up with soil samples and grid based mapping in the southern part of 831.700/2022 and drilling targets had been identified.
Mapping prior to and during soil sampling identifies numerous small pegmatites and some larger pegmatites to a maximum of 10 metres wide. Areas of large quartz boulders, possibly quartz cores to pegmatites, were also mapped and in places are coincident with lithium and lithium pathfinder anomalies. Pegmatites cross cut and are younger than the foliation in the host G3 type granite.
Regional structure from geophysics and from topography shows a strong NE to ENE trend, subparallel to the Latin Resources “Lithium Corridor.” Drilling will be oriented at 90 degrees to the regional trend initially, as the most probable major pegmatite orientation direction.
Strong vertical zonation in the lithium pegmatite geochemical responses are present and close attention to the location of laterite and the old lateritised surface is critical to interpretation of where lithium pegmatites may be concealed by leaching of lithium.
Drill targets were defined by lithium anomalies and by occurrences of pegmatite or extensive float of pegmatite minerals, lithium pathfinder elements, large quartz boulders or anomalous quartz concentrations.
The lateritic weathering zone is estimated from mapping to be up to 50 metres thick within the tenement, but locally may be significantly thicker. Drilling below this weathered layer is essential to get analyses that reflect the actual grade of any pegmatites present. Within the weathering zone low values of lithium are expected from potentially economic pegmatites.
Images & Maps
Figure 1 shows the location of the Salinas Project tenements in relation to Latin resources Collina deposit and to other tenements held by major explorers including Rio Tinto.
Figure 1. Location of the Bananal Valley tenements in the GMN Salinas Project. This region contains two producing mines, the undeveloped Colina deposit, and several prospects with significant exploration activity. While close proximity does not guarantee similar results it does provide evidence to assist in targeted exploration.
Mapping and soil sampling in the western Bananal Valley tenement, 831.700/2022, has defined areas of laterite as well as various larger pegmatite and quartz occurrences.
Figure 2 shows the extensive high order stream sediment target zones in the Bananal valley tenement, with their follow up soil lines and potential pegmatite mineral occurrences, including green tourmaline, indicating highly evolved pegmatites.
Figure 2. Highest priority target zone in the south western part of the Bananal Valley tenement, 831.700/2022. Lithium anomalies are plotted as anomalous catchments (released 22 August 2024) to indicate the large prospective area that is present. Soil sample lines shown in yellow, mapping of occurrences shown in legend. Laterite extent defines limits of anomalous lithium in soil responses at surface.
Lower order anomalies in the northeast are still considered highly prospective, with lower order results due to more intensive weathering and leaching of surface rocks.
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This article includes content from Gold Mountain, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Inside Billionaire Gina Rinehart's Key Mining Investments (Updated 2025)
In addition to Arafura, entrepreneur Rinehart’s investment portfolio also contains other ex-China, green-transition-focused companies such as Australian lithium firm Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR,OTC Pink:LINRF), as well as rare earths producers MP Materials (NYSE:MP) and Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC,OTC Pink:LYSCF). Rinehart’s role in the acquisition of Azure Minerals’ Andover lithium project in Western Australia alongside lithium giant SQM (NYSE:SQM) also made headlines in the past year.
In this article
- Who is Gina Rinehart?
- How did Gina Rinehart get rich?
- What mining companies does Gina Rinehart own?
- Where does Hancock Prospecting mine iron?
- Gina Rinehart’s iron ore investments
- Gina Rinehart’s lithium investments
- Gina Rinehart’s rare earths investments
- Gina Rinehart’s copper investments
- Gina Rinehart’s oil and gas investments
- Gina Rinehart’s potash and agriculture investments
- FAQs for Gina Rinehart
Who is Gina Rinehart?
Gina Rinehart is an Australian iron ore magnate and the executive chair of Hancock Prospecting, as well as the richest person in Australia and one of the world’s richest women. Rinehart is the daughter of Australian mining mogul and Hancock Prospecting founder, the late Lang Hancock. As the current executive chair of Hancock Prospecting, Rinehart won the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from CEO Magazine in 2019.
Rinehart was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2022 for her “distinguished service to the mining sector, to the community through philanthropic initiatives, and to sport as a patron.”
How did Gina Rinehart get rich?
Gina Rinehart inherited Hancock Prospecting after her father’s passing in 1992. The following year, Gina Rinehart’s company acquired the Roy Hill tenements. Centering the massive project as the cornerstone of the company, Hancock Prospecting has greatly benefited from the iron ore market boom that began in the early 2000s.
Today, Roy Hill is Australia’s largest iron ore mine, producing 60 million tonnes of iron ore per year. The mine was recently approved to increase its annual production to 70 million tonnes. Success at Roy Hill has made Hancock Prospecting Australia’s most valuable private company, worth an estimated AU$15.6 billion.
As with many of the world’s most successful billionaires, Gina Rinehart has developed an investment strategy based on strategic partnerships as well as diversification to mitigate risk and build value. Under her leadership, Hancock Prospecting Pty Limited (HPPL) as well as the HPPL Group of companies has expanded into some of the world’s most economically important markets, such as real estate, agriculture, energy and critical metals.
For the 2024 fiscal year, Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting reported a bumper profit of AU$5.6 billion, up 10 percent from the previous year.
What mining companies does Gina Rinehart own?
Through her company Hancock Prospecting, Gina Rinehart owns interest in mining companies across many sectors, including iron ore, lithium, rare earths, copper, oil and gas, as well as potash. While much of her investment portfolio is focused on Australia and ASX companies, Rinehart is actively strengthening the geographical diversification of her investments.
In recent years, Rinehart has made a series of key investments in mining companies, especially targeting critical metals projects in Germany, Brazil, Ecuador and the United States. These include exploration-stage firms such as Titan Minerals (ASX:TTM) and Azure Minerals as well as producers such as Atlas Iron and MP Materials.
Where does Hancock Prospecting mine iron?
Vehicles hauling ore at Roy Hill iron ore mine.
Photo of Roy Hill iron ore mine via Roy Hill.
Hancock Prospecting’s Roy Hill and Hope Downs iron ore mines are located in the resource rich Pilbara region of Western Australia.
Roy Hill has attracted strategic partnerships with major global enterprises: Marubeni (TSE:8002) with a 15 percent equity stake; POSCO (NYSE:PKX,KRX:005490) holds a 12.5 percent stake; and China Steel (TPE:2002) has a 2.5 percent equity position. The minority partners purchase a combined 28.75 million tonnes of iron ore annually from Roy Hill’s production.
In September 2024, Hancock Prospecting got the green light for its AU$600 million McPhee iron mine located about 100 kilometres north of the Roy Hill mine after a long approval process. The McPhee iron mine is expected to produce around 10 million tonnes of the metal each year over an estimated 15 year mine life. First production is expected to kick off next year, and ore will be transported by road trains to Roy Hill for processing and blending. The goal is to improve the larger mine's product mix and sustain its production volumes.
The Hope Downs iron ore complex is another of Australia’s largest iron ore projects. A 50/50 joint venture partnership with Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO), Hope Downs hosts four open-pit mines and has an annual production capacity of 47 million tonnes. Hope Downs has also been the subject of a more than decade-long civil dispute in a Western Australian court over royalties, put forth by the descendants of Lang Hancock's business partner Peter Wright as well as Rinehart’s own children.
Gina Rinehart’s iron ore investments
Gina Rinehart’s iron ore investments in Western Australia extend beyond Roy Hill and Hill Downs to its subsidiary Atlas Iron’s three producing mines and a pipeline of development projects, as well as an earn-in agreement on Legacy Iron Ore (ASX:LCY) and Hawthorn Resources’ (ASX:HAW) Mt Bevan project through its subsidiary Hancock Magnetite Holdings.
Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting acquired Atlas Iron in 2018 through a AU$427 million deal that turned out to be dirt cheap as the company would go on to deliver AU$1.5 billion in revenues over the next three years alone.
Today, Atlas Mines operates the Mt Webber, Sanjiv Ridge and Miralga Creek mines. Production from these mines in its fiscal year ended June 2023 led to a AU$222 million dividend payment for Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting.
At Mt Bevan, as part of its earn-in agreement, Hancock completed a prefeasibility study (PFS) for a 12 million tonne per year high-grade magnetite project in July of 2024. The PFS incorporated a mineral resource estimate totalling 1,291 million tonnes, which was completed by Atlas, and delineates a capital cost of AU$5 billion to develop the potential Mt Bevan mine.
Completion of the PFS increased Hancock’s stake in the JV ownership from 30 percent to 51 percent with Legacy now holding 29.4 percent and Hawthorn 19.6 percent.
Like iron, coal is another essential material in steel manufacturing. To this end, Rinehart is also pursuing an investment in a past-producing metallurgical coal mine in Alberta, Canada. Hancock Prospecting subsidiary Northback Holdings is the owner of the proposed Grassy Mountain steelmaking coal project in the province’s Crowsnest Pass region. Northback is awaiting approval of its exploration licenses for the project.
Gina Rinehart’s lithium investments
Gina Rinehart's lithium investments include Azure Minerals’ (ASX:AZS) Andover lithium project, Liontown Resources, Delta Lithium (ASX:DLI) and Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX:VUL). The majority of her lithium investments have came in a flurry over the past year.
In June 2023, Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting signed a separate joint venture earn-in agreement for the Mt Bevan magnetite project, which is discussed above, this time for the lithium, nickel and copper mineralization at the project. The agreement will similarly see Hancock able to earn a 51 percent interest by completing certain milestones.
Last September, Rinehart made headlines when she took a position in Liontown Resources and then rapidly increased the position to 19.9 percent over the following month. This allowed Hancock, which was now Liontown's largest shareholder, to effectively block Albemarle’s (NYSE:ALB) accepted takeover of the smaller lithium company.
However, since then, Liontown’s stock has taken a hit as the economics for its near-production Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia have been damaged by the effects of high inflation and low lithium prices. Ultimately, in January, Albemarle decided to sell off its 4 percent stake in Liontown Resources. The lack of any further moves or comment by Rinehart in relation to Liontown Resources has led to speculation she may be waiting for the right opportunity to buy up the lithium company at a discount.
Kathleen Valley entered production in late July 2024, and is expected to produce approximately 2.8 million tonnes per year of spodumene concentrate by the end of FY 2027.
That wasn't the only lithium bid Rinehart blocked in October 2023. As is her strategy, Rinehart scooped up an 18.9 percent stake in Azure Minerals last year after SQM announced its intention for a total takeover of the company and its Andover lithium project in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia. This story had a different ending, though, as Hancock Prospecting instead joined the lithium giant in a AU$1.7 billion deal to become a co-owner of the exploration-stage Andover project, which also hosts nickel, copper and cobalt mineralisation. The deal closed in May 2024.
Shortly after its Liontown and Azure moves last year, Hancock Prospecting continued investing in Western Australia's lithium prospects when it participated in a AU$70.2 million fundraising for Delta Lithium in November 2023. The proceeds of the fundraising will help Delta Lithium to fund the development of its Mt Ida lithium-gold project, which is adjacent to Hancock's Mt Bevan joint venture project. As of November 2024, Hancock Prospecting owns 10.65 percent of Delta Lithium.
Rinehart has made lithium investments outside of Australia as well. Looking further afield to Germany, with a 7.5 percent stake, Hancock Prospecting is the second largest shareholder in Vulcan Energy and its flagship Zero Carbon lithium project in Germany’s Upper Rhine Valley, a milestone Rinehart's company reached after investing an additional AU$20 million in Vulcan, which made headlines in June. The Zero Carbon project is slated to produce an initial 24,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide by the end of 2025, targeting Europe’s electric vehicle manufacturing sector.
In November 2024, Vulcan Energy reached another major milestone with first production at its downstream lithium hydroxide optimisation plant, which is designed to produce lithium hydroxide and battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate.
Gina Rinehart’s rare earths investments
Facilities at MP Materials' Mountain Pass rare earths mine.
clayton harrison / Shutterstock
Through Hancock Prospecting, Gina Rinehart has recently made investments in some of the world’s most well known rare earths producing companies — US-based MP Materials and Australia’s Lynas Rare Earths — as well as development-stage Arafura Rare Earths and exploration-stage Brazilian Rare Earths (ASX:BRE). Rinehart taking a position in these rare earths companies shows she is looking to capitalise on the significant need for these critical metals outside of China.
As mentioned in the introduction to this article, Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting is the largest shareholder of Arafura Rare Earths, giving it a 10 percent stake in the advanced-stage Nolans project in the Northern Territory. Rinehart made the investment in December 2022.
In April of 2024, Rinehart made two significant moves into the sector. The first came on April 9, when it was revealed that Hancock Prospecting had acquired a 5.3 percent stake in MP Materials, the second largest rare earths producer outside of China. The company’s California-based Mountain Pass mine is the only integrated rare earth mining and processing operation in North America.
Rinehart’s investment in MP Materials could later bring in “Roy Hill-type cash flow,” Dylan Kelly, head analyst at Terra Capital, told Australian Financial Review. “Anything that is producing and not China-aligned is highly strategic. These materials are very, very hard to make and there’s a lot of demand in making magnets for electric vehicles and wind turbines."
One week later, Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting also took up a 5.82 percent interest in Lynas Rare Earths, the largest ex-China rare earths producer. The Australian rare earths miner produces the critical metals at its Mount Weld mine in Western Australia and ships the raw material to Malaysia for processing. Lynas is also ramping up processing at its Kalgoorlie rare earth processing facility in Australia, and building light rare earths processing facilities and a heavy rare earths separation facility in Texas, US.
Rinehart’s near simultaneous investments in both Lynas and MP Materials comes after merger talks between the two rare earths behemoths stalled in February. There is speculation stirring that Rinehart’s participation could renew merger discussions, Reuters reported. In November, the mining mogul increased her position in MP Materials to 8.5 percent, further raising the possibility of a merger down the road.
Andy Forster, Lynas investor and senior investor of Argo Investments, had his interest piqued by Rinehart’s move "given she's clearly made a play across the whole space. She obviously wants to potentially have a seat at the table if there's any chance of consolidation."
Rinehart is also getting her foot in the rare earths door at the exploration level. In 2023, Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting made a pre-IPO investment for a 5.85 percent share in Brazilian Rare Earths, which went on to list on the ASX in December of that year. The rare earths explorer is working its district-scale Rocha da Rocha rare earth province in the state of Bahia, Brazil. The province is highly prospective for both heavy and light rare earths, with grades of over 40 percent total rare earth oxides found. Brazilian Rare Earths is working to complete an updated JORC mineral resource estimate.
Gina Rinehart’s copper investments
Gina Rinehart’s copper investments are centered on Ecuador’s Andean copper-gold belt, and include explorer Titan Minerals and Ecuador's state-owned Empresa Nacional Minera (ENAMI).
Ecuador has seen a rush of major mining companies taking up positions in key copper and gold projects in recent years, placing Hancock Prospecting in the company of Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX,NYSE:GOLD), Zijin Mining (HKEX:2899) and Anglo American (LSE:AAL,OTCQX:AAUKF).
Rinehart’s Ecuadorian copper investments are in line with her shift toward the critical metals necessary for the green transition and her strategy to expand the global footprint of her mining empire.
Hancock Prospecting subsidiary Hanrine Ecuadorian Exploration and Mining has been in the region since 2017, but recently began making more investments. In March 2024, Hancock Prospecting subsidiary Hanrine Ecuadorian Exploration and Mining acquired a 49 percent stake in six mining concessions for AU$186.4 million. The deal sees it partner with state mining company ENAMI for the concessions, which surround the stalled Llurimagua copper-molybdenum project in Northern Ecuador.
In late April, Ecuador’s constitutional court nixed appeals by ENAMI and its partner in the Llurimagua project, Chile’s state-owned CODELCO, to review the March 2023 decision by Imbabura’s provincial supreme court suspending the environmental license for Llurimagua.
Shortly after the investment with ENAMI, Rinehart's Hanrine made another play in Ecuador by striking an earn-in agreement with Titan Minerals for up to an 80 percent ownership stake in the explorer’s Linderos copper-gold project contingent on up to AU$120 million in exploration spending. Linderos is an early-exploration stage project with the potential to host a large-scale copper porphyry system. Hanrine has made an initial investment of AU$2 million for a 5 percent stake.
Gina Rinehart’s oil and gas investments
Gina Rinehart’s oil and gas investments include private firms Warrego Energy in Western Australia and Senex Energy in Queensland.
In February 2023, Hancock Prospecting won a protracted bidding war for the then-public Warrego with Warrego's joint venture partner Strike Energy (ASX:STX) for a price of AU$0.36 per share. Warrego and operator Strike Energy maintain their 50/50 joint venture on the West Erregulla onshore gas field within exploration permit EP 469 near Perth in Western Australia.
In mid-August 2024, the West Erregulla project received its production licence and the partners expect to start operations once a final investment decision is made later this year. During phase one, the project is expected to produce 87 terajoules per day.
As for Senex Energy, it is a joint venture between POSCO (50.1 percent) and Hancock Prospecting subsidiary Hancock Energy (49.9 percent) that holds the Atlas and Roma North natural gas developments in Queensland’s Surat Basin. The two JV partners acquired Senex in 2022, with Rinehart’s company putting up AU$440.89 million.
Senex Energy is embarking on a AU$1 billion expansion endeavor at Atlas and Roma North this year that will see 60 petajoules of natural gas delivered to Australia’s east coast market annually by the end of 2025. This figure represents more than 10 percent of the region’s demand. Regulatory approval for the expansion was finally approved following an uphill battle with a Federal government more keen on renewable energy projects than the natural gas variety. Hancock Prospecting reported the first flows of gas production from the expansion field in late November 2024.
Rinehart once had a significant stake of nearly 20 percent in Lakes Oil, now Lakes Blue Energy (ASX:LKO), through subsidiary Timeview Enterprises. Timeview's stake in Lakes Blue Energy has been lowered in recent years, but it remains the company's fourth largest shareholder at 4.63 percent.
In late October, Rinehart offered financial assistance to Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN,OTC Pink:MALRF), a diversified mining company with lithium, iron ore and oil and gas operations in Western Australia. Headed by another mining heavyweight, Chris Ellison, Mineral Resources, or MinRes, is reportedly drowning in debt and embroiled in a tax evasion investigation. At that time, Hancock Prospecting agreed to a AU$1.13 billion buyout of MinRes' oil and gas projects in the Perth Basin and an exploration acreage in the Carnarvon Basin.
The 100 percent sale of two of MinRes' exploration permits to Hancock was completed in December for initial consideration of AU$780 million, with potential for up to AU$327 million depending on whether certain conditions and thresholds are met. The permits include the Moriarty Deep prospect and the Lockyer gas and Erregulla oil discoveries.
Separate to that sale, the two companies are also forming two 50/50 exploration joint ventures for MinRes' remaining permits in the Perth and Carnarvon Basins. Hancock will acquire 50 percent of the MinRes Explorer drill rig, which is the largest in Australia.
Gina Rinehart’s potash and agriculture investments
Gina Rinehart’s potash and agricultural investments center on Hancock Prospecting’s ownership interests in multiple premium cattle stations in Australia, and the company's royalty revenue generated from the Anglo-American-controlled Woodsmith potash project currently under construction in the United Kingdom.
With an original investment of AU$380.6 million in 2016 to then-owner Sirius Minerals, Hancock Prospecting has a 5 percent revenue royalty on the first 13 million tonnes of fertiliser produced from Woodsmith and 1 percent thereafter. Hancock also has a 20,000 tonne-a-year offtake option. The timeline for Rinehart’s royalty revenue has been pushed back, however, as Anglo is cutting spending at Woodsmith following BHP’s (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP) failed mega-merger with Anglo American.
Investor takeaway
With Gina Rinehart at the helm of Hancock Prospecting, the Roy Hill iron ore mine has generated stellar revenues. That wealth creation not only made her Australia's richest person, but has also built a powerful war chest from which Rinehart is expanding her mining empire.
Investors can take cues from her recent and future moves in the mining sector. Although she may be defensive toward renewable energy technologies encroaching on agricultural land, she understands the strategical importance of investing in critical metals for the green transition such as lithium, rare earths and copper.
FAQs for Gina Rinehart
How much is Gina Rinehart worth?
Gina Rinehart's net worth is reported to be AU$40.61 billion as of May 31, 2024. That's up 8.5 percent over the previous year, according to figures from the Australian Financial Review's Rich List 2024.
"Rinehart’s net worth jumped $3.2b in the last year thanks to multiples in the sector expanding," the list's authors explain. "However, her iron grip on the Rich List top spot may be weakened by ore price declines in 2024, on the back of concerns over steel output reducing in China."
What company does Gina Rinehart own?
Gina Rinehart owns Hancock Prospecting, a private company founded by her late father Lang Hancock. Originally an iron ore mining company, today the firm has strategic stakes in a wide-range of metals and commodities from lithium and rare earths to copper and agriculture, which are detailed in this article.
Can I buy shares in Hancock Prospecting?
While investors can't buy public shares in privately held Hancock Prospecting, they can take equity positions in the publicly traded stocks in which the company itself holds interest. Some of these stocks include Arafura Rare Earths (ASX:ARU,OTC Pink:ARAFF), Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR), MP Materials (NYSE:MP) and Lynas Rare Earths (ASX:LYC).
Does Gina Rinehart own Rio Tinto?
Although she has interest in many mining companies and the two companies share the Hope Downs joint venture, Gina Rinehart does not own mining giant Rio Tinto. Yahoo Finance reports that Aluminum Corporation of China (SHA:601600) is its largest shareholder at 11 percent, followed by BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) with 8.7 percent and the Vanguard Group at about 3.1 percent of shares.
What does Gina Rinehart think about nuclear energy?
Gina Rinehart is pro-nuclear energy. During a speech at The Australian Bush Summit in 2023, she railed against the impact of wind and solar farms on much needed agricultural land in Australia. She suggested that nuclear energy offers a more viable solution for reaching the country's net zero targets.
Is Gina Rinehart the richest person in Australia?
Gina Rinehart is the richest person in Australia. In 2024, she made the Australian Financial Review's Rich List for the fifth consecutive year in a row. The next richest Australian, real estate developer Harry Triguboff, trails her by about AU$14 billion.
Is Gina Rinehart the richest woman in the world?
Gina Rinehart is not the richest woman in the world, but she does rank as the world's ninth richest woman in 2024. The distinction of richest woman in the world goes to France's Francoise Bettencourt Meyer, the heir of L'Oréal (EPA:OR). Rinehart previously held the title in 2012.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2024.
Don't forget to follow us @INN_Australia for real-time news updates!
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
Pilot Plant Downstream Process Produces Lithium Carbonate with 99.78% Purity
CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM: CTL, Frankfurt: T2N), an exploration and development company advancing sustainable lithium projects in Chile, further to "Pilot-Scale Lithium Carbonate Production" RNS on 21 November 2024, announces the production of a high purity lithium carbonate sample from the Company´s pilot plant downstream process.
The Company has also made the decision to voluntarily delist from the OTCQX market in the U.S. The Board did not see the value from low trading volumes and the associated administration costs. The Company's Ordinary Shares continue to trade on the London AIM Market, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the U.S. OTC Pink Market.
Highlights:
- The Company is processing concentrated eluate from its DLE pilot plant in Copiapó, Chile at the facilities of Conductive Energy ("Conductive") in Chicago, USA with the aim of producing battery grade lithium carbonate.
- The downstream process design aims to minimise process steps and demonstrate a process that is scalable and can consistently produce a battery-grade lithium carbonate product. Key stages are:
- Eluate concentration using Forward Osmosis ("iFO") to produce a highly concentrated pre-carbonation solution with low energy input
- Treatment of the pre-carbonation solution to remove contaminants
- Carbonation to technical-grade lithium carbonate
- Post-carbonation polishing to achieve battery-grade lithium carbonate
- A substantial volume of pre-carbonation solution and lithium carbonate was produced as reported to the market on 21 November 2024.
- Due to the onset of freezing weather in Chicago from late November, steps were taken to mitigate damage to sensitive iFO processing equipment and iFO concentration was paused.
- Further downstream processing continued using the already produced pre-carbonation solution to refine and analyse the downstream process and lithium carbonate product.
- A test run volume of pre-carbonation solution was processed in December into an 8kg sample of high grade lithium carbonate which a laboratory at the University of Calgary has recently confirmed achieved 99.78% purity.
- This exceeds the 99.6% purity standard (Chinese GB/T 23853-2022 (Type 1) for battery grade lithium carbonate from brine. However, certain individual impurity concentrations were higher than the standard.
- The treatment process was shown to be effective at removing contaminants, resulting in high-quality feed to the carbonation stage.
- The most problematic contaminants in the pre-carbonation solution, Calcium, Magnesium and Boron, were reduced by 98.5%, 99.9% and to non-detection (>99.99%) respectively.
- Conductive Energy is is currently assessing best options to restart iFO operations that are paused due to winter conditions.
- Conductive is utilising the current pause to upgrade the system based on initial data as well as add an nanofiltration step to remove divalent ions (Calcium, Magnesium) before the ion exchange steps which will improve purification efficiency further whilst improvements in automation and process control will be made.
Steve Kesler, Executive Chairman, CleanTech Lithium said: "We are pleased to report the production of high grade lithium carbonate with a purity of 99.78% from an initial batch of concentrated eluate from our Laguna Verde project. This phase of work has focused on fine-tuning the process and preparing to scale up pilot plant output. Our collaborative efforts with Conductive Energy and Forward Water on the downstream process are advancing our aim to produce signifigant quantities of battery grade product to introduce to potential strategic partners and off-takers."
Images 1-2: High purity lithium carbonate falling from filter plate and final product. Low adhesion and moisture content is an indicator of high product purity & exceptional crystal structure
Further Details:
In 2H 2024, a total of 88m3 of concentrated eluate produced at the Company´s DLE pilot plant located in Copiapó, Chile, was shipped to the facilities of Conductive Energy in Chicago, USA, for conversion into lithium carbonate. Processing commenced in November 2024 and a total of 27.5m3 of concentrated eluate was processed through the iFO stage which reduced the volume to 5.3m3 of pre-carbonation solution with lithium concentrations up to 14,400mg/l. The iFO unit is a mobile demonstration scale unit with a feed flow rate of 800 - 1,000L per hour and is an outdoor installation and therefore susceptible to weather conditions. A portion of the solution was processed into approximately 50kg of lithium carbonate as announced to the market on 21 November 2024.
Image 3: The iFO unit installed at the Conductive Energy site in Chicago, USA
Despite challenging weather conditions in late November, with temperatures in Chicago dropping below zero degrees Celsius, process evaluation continued with the aim of achieving iterative improvements in yield at lower energy and reagent inputs, which helps assess scalability and operating costs.
Adverse weather did pose risks to sensitive process equipment, such as the membrane modules of the iFO unit and further iFO concentration was paused. Under commercial-scale operations, such systems would be housed within temperature-controlled facilities to mitigate these challenges.
Production of High Purity Product
Downstream processing continued using iFO concentrate already produced to run the final purification, carbonation and polishing stages and produce a test quantity of high grade lithium carbonate. The solution produced by the iFO unit was 14,350mg/l Li, a 6.5X increase in concentration of the concentrated eluate. This was achieved without optimisation and in sub-optimal weather conditions. Optimization is expected to achieve a minimum 10X increase in concentration at this stage. Further stages of contaminant removal, carbonation and polishing achieved a high grade lithium carbonate product with a purity of 99.78% Li2CO3
 |
Feed Brine | Concentrated Eluate | Post iFO Solution | Lithium Carbonate | |
Grade (mg/L Li) | 180 | 2,210 | 14,350 | 99.78% |
Table 1: Lithium grade in key stages from feed brine to final product
Treatment to Remove Impurities
The purification stage consists of 3 process units - microfiltration, divalent ion exchange and boron ion exchange. These were shown to greatly reduce the concentrated contaminants in the pre-carbonation solution resulting in a high-quality feed to the carbonation process. The most problematic contaminants in the pre-carbonation solution, Calcium, Magnesium and Boron were reduced by 98.5%, 99.9% and to non-detection (>99.99%), respectively. Table 2 shows the major ions in each process stage. Upgrades to the system, including the addition of a nanofiltration step is being implemented to more efficiently remove divalent ions which were at a higher concentration in the concentrated eluate received (although within Lanshen design specification) than the Conductive pilot plant was set up for.
Element (mg/L) | Concentrated Eluate (mg/L) | iFO (mg/L) | Microfiltration (mg/L) | Ion Exchange (mg/L) | Boron Ion Exchange (mg/L) |
B | 506 | 1,655 | 1,480 | 1,230 | ND |
Ca | 48.2 | 346 | 319 | 5 | 5 |
K | 21.8 | 129 | 132 | 114 | 70 |
Mg | 49.7 | 357 | 318 | 1.7 | 0.4 |
Na | 428 | 2,685 | 4,140 | 7,870 | 5,115 |
S | 19.3 | 136 | 132 | 117 | 78 |
Table 2: Major impurities following each stage of pre-treatment
Carbonation Stage
Carbonation proceeded as designed, with initial technical grade material produced from the feed in under 15 minutes of reactor time. The technical grade product was subsequently polished in a single wash step to produce a high-purity lithium carbonate product. Table 2 presents all the detected elements by ICP, undertaken by a laboratory at the University of Calgary, as a percent weight of the total dry product (100% dry mass). Moisture in the product prior to kiln drying was low at 28% wt. The final product achieved 99.78% lithium carbonate purity on a fully dry basis (Table 3).
Image 4: Filter press used in the conversion process to produce lithium carbonate
A comparison to Chinese standard GB/T 23853-2022 (Type 1) for battery grade lithium carbonate is shown in Table 3. Potassium, sodium and chloride will be reduced through changes in carbonation reactor operation such that post-carbonation washing is more effective. The divalent ions, calcium and magnesium, will be reduced following introduction of the nanofiltration step.
Product | CTL T1 Product2 | GB/T 23853-2022 |
Li2CO3 | 99.78% | 99.60% |
Na | 0.050% | 0.030% |
K | 0.014% | 0.002% |
Ca | 0.022% | 0.005% |
Mg | 0.015% | 0.005% |
SO4 | 0.016% | 0.01% |
Cl | 0.044% | 0.02% |
B | 0.001% | 0.005% |
Fe | nd (0.0005%) | 0.001% |
Cu | nd (0.0005%) | 0.005% |
Pb | nd (0.0005%) | |
Al | 0.001% | |
Zn | nd (0.0005%) | |
Si | 0.006% | 0.002% |
Mn | 0.0003% | 0.001% |
H2O | 0.2% | 0.4% |
Insoluble | nd (0.01) | 0.005% |
Table 3: Weight (%) of elements in the final product after drying
Next Steps
Downstream processing is scheduled to resume in February 2025, with the rest of the 88m³ volume of concentrated eluate anticipated to be processed between February and April 2025.
Conductive Energy is utilising the the iFO operations pause to implement several improvements to the system will be implemented primarily in automation and process control and debottlenecking for continuous operation and addition of a nanofiltration stage. The planned schedule is:
- Early January - early February 2025: facility recommissioning and recommence processing
- Mid-February - plan additional tours with third parties for offtake purposes
- Mid-February - early April, completion of CleanTech Lithium's concentrated eluate processing and conversion to battery grade lithium carbonate to produce larger quantities for start of product qualification by potential strategic partners and off-takers.
Competent Persons Statement
The following professional acts as qualified person, as defined in the AIM Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies (June 2009) and JORC Code (2012):
The technical information contained within this announcement has been reviewed and approved by Dr Steve Kesler, a Director of the Company. Dr Kesler is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Chartered Engineer with over 40 years' experience in the mining and resource development industry. Dr Kesle holds a degree in Mining Engineering and Ph.D in Mineral Technology both from Imperial College, London Dr Kesler and has sufficient experience, as to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 edition of the "Australian Code for Reporting of Mineral Resources and Ore reserves" and for the purposes of the AIM Guidance Note on Mining and Oil & Gas Companies dated June 2009. Dr Kesler consents to the inclusion in this announcement of the matters based on information in the form and context in which it appears. The Company is reporting progress on project development and metallurgical results under the 2012 edition of the Australasian Code for the Reporting of Results, Minerals Resources and Ore reserves (JORC code 2012).
The information communicated within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. The person who arranged for the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was Gordon Stein, Director and CFO.
For further information contact: | |
CleanTech Lithium PLC | |
Steve Kesler/Gordon Stein/Nick Baxter | Jersey office: +44 (0) 1534 668 321 Chile office: +562-32239222 |
Or via Celicourt | |
Celicourt Communications Felicity Winkles/Philip Dennis/Ali AlQahtani | +44 (0) 20 7770 6424 |
Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser) Roland Cornish/Asia Szusciak | +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 |
Fox-Davies Capital Limited (Joint Broker) Daniel Fox-Davies | +44 (0) 20 3884 8450 |
Canaccord Genuity (Joint Broker) James Asensio | +44 (0) 20 7523 4680 |
Beaumont Cornish Limited ("Beaumont Cornish") is the Company's Nominated Adviser and is authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's responsibilities as the Company's Nominated Adviser, including a responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under the AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed solely to the London Stock Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and will not be responsible to any other persons for providing protections afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them in relation to the proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter referred to in it.
Notes
CleanTech Lithium (AIM:CTL, Frankfurt:T2N, OTCQX:CTLHF) is an exploration and development company advancing lithium projects in Chile for the clean energy transition. Committed to net-zero, CleanTech Lithium's mission is to become a new supplier of battery grade lithium using Direct Lithium Extraction technology powered by renewable energy.
CleanTech Lithium has two key lithium projects in Chile, Laguna Verde and Viento Andino, and exploration stage projects in Llamara and Arenas Blancas (Salar de Atacama), located in the lithium triangle, a leading centre for battery grade lithium production. The two most advanced projects: Laguna Verde and Viento Andino are situated within basins controlled by the Company, which affords significant potential development and operational advantages. All four projects have good access to existing infrastructure.
CleanTech Lithium is committed to utilising Direct Lithium Extraction with reinjection of spent brine resulting in no aquifer depletion. Direct Lithium Extraction is a transformative technology which removes lithium from brine with higher recoveries, short development lead times and no extensive evaporation pond construction. www.ctlithium.com
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This article includes content from Cleantech Lithium PLC, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Argentina’s Lithium Resource Holds Potential to Power the Global Energy Transition
The significance of Argentina's lithium resources is underscored by recent industry movements. For instance, Rio Tinto's (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO) $6.7 billion planned acquisition of Arcadium Lithium (NYSE:ALTM,ASX:LTM) highlights the growing interest in brine projects and the strategic value of their location within the Lithium Triangle.
This move signals a broader trend of major players recognising the potential of Argentina's lithium deposits.
The Lithium Triangle: A geological profile
The Lithium Triangle, aptly named for its abundance of the lightweight metal, is the world's largest source of lithium. This region holds the key to meeting the surging demand for lithium-ion batteries that power EVs and store renewable energy. Argentina, with its vast salt flats, is particularly well-positioned to capitalise on this demand.
This region’s extensive salt flats are the result of ancient lakes that have evaporated over millions of years. These salars are underlain by vast aquifers containing lithium-rich brines, formed through the weathering of lithium-bearing rocks. The concentration of lithium in these brines is exceptionally high, with some areas reporting concentrations up to 1,500 milligrams per litre (mg/L), significantly higher than deposits found elsewhere. This unique geological formation, coupled with the arid climate that promotes natural evaporation, creates ideal conditions for lithium extraction.
The geological stability of the region, marked by minimal tectonic activity, further enhances its attractiveness for long-term mining operations. These factors combine to make Argentina's lithium resources not only abundant but also economically viable and strategically accessible for extraction.
Argentina's lithium production primarily relies on brine extraction, a method that offers several advantages over traditional hard rock mining. This process involves pumping lithium-rich brine from underground reservoirs and allowing it to evaporate in large ponds, leaving behind concentrated lithium compounds.
The benefits of brine extraction include:
- Lower production costs compared to hard rock mining
- Reduced environmental impact due to less intensive mining operations
- Higher-grade lithium with fewer impurities, ideal for battery production
These factors contribute to Argentina's competitive edge in the global lithium market, making its projects particularly attractive to investors and battery manufacturers alike.
Spotlight on excellence: Hombre Muerto West project
A prime example of Argentina's lithium potential is Galan Lithium's (ASX:GLN) Hombre Muerto West (HMW) project. Located in the heart of Argentina's lithium-rich Salar del Hombre Muerto, this project exemplifies the high-grade, low-impurity brine that makes Argentine lithium so valuable.
Key features of the HMW project include:
- High-grade lithium brine with concentrations of 859 mg/L
- Low levels of impurities, reducing processing costs
- Strategic location near established operations like Livent Corporation's El Fenix site
- A substantial resource of approximately 8.6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent
The project's proximity to existing operations enhances its value proposition, potentially allowing for shared infrastructure and knowledge transfer. This strategic positioning within the Lithium Triangle underscores the importance of location in the lithium industry.
Wood Mackenzie’s emissions benchmarking service has also placed HMW within the first quartile of the industry greenhouse gas emissions curve, making the project a globally significant, long-term source of lithium.
Argentina's commitment to lithium production
Recognising the immense potential of its lithium resources, Argentina has taken significant steps to foster growth in its lithium industry. The government has implemented a supportive regulatory framework aimed at attracting investment and accelerating project development.
Key initiatives include:
- A $7 billion investment plan to boost lithium production
- Projected export growth from $1.7 billion in 2022 to $5 billion by 2025
- Streamlined permitting processes for lithium projects
- Incentives for companies investing in lithium extraction and processing
These efforts are expected to significantly increase Argentina's lithium output, solidifying its position as a major player in the global supply chain.
Investment potential
The combination of high-grade resources, favorable extraction methods and supportive government policies makes Argentina's lithium projects highly attractive to investors. Companies like Galan Lithium, with their focus on high-grade brine assets, are well-positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for lithium in the clean energy sector.
Key factors driving investment interest in Argentina’s lithium sector include:
- Lower production costs compared to hard rock lithium mining
- High-quality lithium suitable for high-performance batteries
- Increasing global demand for lithium, driven by EV adoption and renewable energy storage
- Argentina's commitment to expanding its lithium industry
As the world transitions towards cleaner energy sources, the importance of securing a stable lithium supply becomes paramount. Argentina's lithium projects offer a compelling opportunity for investors looking to participate in this global shift.
Investor takeaway
Argentina's strategic position in the Lithium Triangle makes it a crucial player in the global lithium supply chain.
With its high-grade brine resources, favorable extraction methods and supportive government policies, the country is poised to significantly impact the future of clean energy technologies.
As projects like Galan Lithium's HMW continue to develop, and as global demand for lithium surges, Argentina's strategic importance in the lithium market is set to grow. For investors, policymakers and industry stakeholders, keeping a close eye on developments in Argentina's lithium sector will be crucial in navigating the evolving landscape of the global energy transition.
This INNSpired article is sponsored by Galan Lithium (ASX:GLN,FSX:9CH). This INNSpired article provides information which was sourced by the Investing News Network (INN) and approved by Galan Lithiumin order to help investors learn more about the company. Galan Lithium is a client of INN. The company’s campaign fees pay for INN to create and update this INNSpired article.
This INNSpired article was written according to INN editorial standards to educate investors.
INN does not provide investment advice and the information on this profile should not be considered a recommendation to buy or sell any security. INN does not endorse or recommend the business, products, services or securities of any company profiled.
The information contained here is for information purposes only and is not to be construed as an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of securities. Readers should conduct their own research for all information publicly available concerning the company. Prior to making any investment decision, it is recommended that readers consult directly with Galan Lithiumand seek advice from a qualified investment advisor.
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