Western Australia Supreme Court Approves Latin Resources' Pilbara Minerals Acquisition

Pilbara Minerals' (ASX:PLS,OTC Pink:PILBF) AU$560 million acquisition of Latin Resources (ASX:LRS,OTC Pink:LRSRF) is now legally effective, Latin said in a press release on Wednesday (January 22).

First announced this past August, the deal has already been approved by the Supreme Court of Australia.

Latin's announcement also outlines the remaining key dates of the scheme.

The transaction will give Pilbara ownership of Latin’s flagship Salinas lithium project in Brazil.

The asset is located in Minas Gerais' Bananal Valley area, 10 kilometres outside the town of Salinas. Its resource estimate, which covers the Colina and Fog's Block deposits, stands at 77.7 million tonnes at 1.24 percent lithium oxide.

According to Latin Resources, there is potential to establish the deposit as the second largest spodumene concentrate producer in Brazil; it could also be among the lowest-cost spodumene concentrate producers globally.

When the purchase was announced last August, Pilbara said it forms part of its strategy to position itself “as one of the leading lithium materials suppliers globally.” The company's flagship asset is Pilgangoora, located in Western Australia's Pilbara region. Pilbara is currently completing optimisation work at Pilgangoora due to lithium market conditions.

Earlier this month, Pilbara received AU$15 million in grant funding from Western Australia's Investment Attraction Fund.

“(The funds) will be used for the Mid-Stream Demonstration Plant Project (Demonstration Plant Project) at Pilbara Minerals’ Pilgangoora lithium operation in the Pilbara region of Western Australia,” the company said.

“Completing the construction of this project would put Western Australia in a stronger position when lithium market conditions turn by increasing benefits to the state in the form of employment, royalites and economic diversification.”

Pilbara previously said that among its projects, it ranks Salinas at the top of its list “when benchmarked holistically across a range of key criteria.” The company added that it looks forward to developing Salinas to its full potential.

New Pilbara shares are expected to start trading on a normal settlement basis on February 5.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.