Saudi Arabian Hydroxide Plant JV Update

Overview

The encouraging development of electrical automobiles (EVs) is having optimistic results on the demand for battery metals comparable to lithium. International lithium consumption is predicted to achieve 1,427 kt of lithium carbon equal (LCE) in 2025, up from 797 kt of manufacturing in 2022, in line with a Q2 2023 report from Australia’s Workplace of the Chief Economist.

EVs are driving the rising demand for lithium-ion batteries ensuing within the development of the market globally. This places the deal with junior mining firms which are busy growing vital mineral initiatives all over the world. With lithium costs experiencing a downward pattern, now could possibly be an opportune time for traders to get into the lithium area because it stays a vital component for batteries and electrical automobiles. With lithium belongings in Tier 1 mining jurisdictions, Australia-based QX Assets (ASX:QXR) presents traders publicity to this quickly increasing market.

QXR’s lithium technique is centered across the improvement of its Liberty Lithium Brine Undertaking in California and a portfolio of lithium initiatives throughout the Pilbara area of Western Australia. Liberty Lithium is likely one of the largest single lithium brine initiatives within the US with contiguous claims over 102 sq. kilometres (equal to twice the world of Sydney Harbour). The geological setting of the undertaking mirrors Albemarle’s Silver Peak lithium brine deposit in Clayton Valley, Nevada, and main Argentina brine initiatives. Like Silver Peak, QXR’s Liberty could possibly be a large-scale, producing lithium brine asset.

Downstream producers within the US, together with automakers, are in want of securing lithium provide. As such, automakers within the US have been making vital investments in lithium initiatives. The newest was a $100-million investment by Stellantis into Managed Thermal Assets, which owns a lithium undertaking in California. It’s encouraging to notice rising curiosity from end-users investing immediately into initiatives making Liberty Lithium a beautiful alternative.

The corporate has an indicative improvement plan involving drilling, sampling and testwork beginning with two permitted drill holes over the primary a part of the floor lithium anomaly, deliberate for November-December 2023. The purpose is to determine lithium-bearing brine aquifers at depth, which is anticipated to result in detailed drilling towards an preliminary useful resource by mid-2024. QXR has enough monetary muscle to hold out the drilling and different work, particularly with the current AU$3 million raise by way of a personal placement and entry to an extra AU$3 million below an at-the-market (ATM) facility.

QXR intends to gather giant volumes of lithium brines and submit them for testwork with varied direct lithium extraction (DLE) suppliers. DLE applied sciences has the potential to considerably enhance the provision of lithium from brine initiatives given larger recoveries, together with the bonus of sustainability and ESG advantages. Quite a few confirmed DLE applied sciences are rising and being examined at scale, presenting a chance for QXR to seek out strategic companions.

The corporate is headed by managing director Steve Promnitz, who has a confirmed monitor file within the lithium sector. He efficiently remodeled Lake Assets, a lithium brine developer, from a $1-million market worth personal firm to an ASX-listed firm with an AU$2.1-billion market capitalization. His geology and chemistry background together with expertise of working in main mining firms, comparable to CRA and Rio Tinto, ought to show useful for QXR.

Firm Highlights

• QX Assets is an Australia-based firm centered on the exploration and improvement of battery minerals, with an enormous lithium brine undertaking within the US, arduous rock lithium belongings in a major location in Western Australia (WA), copper-molybdenum-gold belongings in Queensland and a strategic funding in nickel sulphides in Sweden.
• Liberty Lithium Brine Undertaking, situated in California, is taken into account analogous to Albemarle’s Silver Peak deposit and is likely one of the largest single lithium brine initiatives within the USA with contiguous claims over 102 sq. kilometres.
• The doubtless large-scale lithium brine undertaking situated within the US is of serious significance, as contributors within the electrical car worth chain are aggressively searching for to safe home battery minerals provide to stability potential supply-side dangers to the vitality transition.
• QXR goals to begin drilling of the Liberty Lithium Undertaking and has secured A$3 million in funding together with entry to an extra A$3 million below an at-the-market facility. The goal is to publish an preliminary useful resource on the undertaking by mid-2024.
• Moreover, the fundraise additionally presents flexibility to ramp up exploration actions throughout its Pilbara lithium arduous rock undertaking that are additionally very thrilling prospects. It has 4 lithium arduous rock initiatives within the Pilbara Province spanning 350 sq. kilometres and in proximity to a few of Australia’s largest lithium deposits and mines.
• The corporate’s different belongings embody the copper-gold-molybdenum undertaking in Queensland and a 39-percent stake in Bayrock Assets, which owns a portfolio of battery metals initiatives in Sweden.

QXR has entered right into a binding settlement with vendor ID Lithium LLC (IGL) to amass a 75 % curiosity within the Liberty Lithium Brine Undertaking in California. Individually, QXR has agreed to buy a small bundle of leases adjoining to Liberty Lithium to consolidate the world, requiring fee of US$100,000 money and QXR shares of the identical worth to the third-party leaseholder.

The Liberty Lithium Brine Undertaking, situated in SaltFire Flat, California, is made up of 1,269 contiguous claims over 102 sq. kilometres (10,230 hectares). It is likely one of the largest single lithium brine initiatives within the US. The undertaking is situated close to long-life evaporation operations and is well-serviced by roads and energy in a area eager to be a part of the vitality transition.

Undertaking Highlights:

• Promising Geology. The undertaking has an analogous look to well-known lithium brine initiatives in Argentina/Chile, rising confidence within the potential for large-scale lithium discovery. QXR has indicated it’s seeing vital native county and regulatory curiosity in growing Liberty Lithium in the direction of manufacturing, pushed by the help for battery minerals manufacturing on this a part of California.
• Sturdy Sampling Outcomes. Sampling on the undertaking has returned as much as 215 mg/L lithium in brine at floor. These elevated lithium outcomes lengthen over a formidable distance of 10 kilometres, demonstrating the strong potential of the Liberty Lithium Undertaking. Related close by brine initiatives, comparable to Pure Power Minerals’ Clayton Valley undertaking simply throughout the California/Nevada border, are advancing to potential financial improvement on decrease grades downhole of 110 to 160 mg/L lithium. Geophysical evaluation exhibits a big basin over 1,000 metres deep and indicating brine aquifer targets at depth.
• Upcoming Drill Program. QXR will undertake a diamond drill program with two permitted drill holes totaling 1,000 metres, together with downhole sampling and geophysics, focused on the centre of the floor lithium anomaly. Drilling is predicted to start in November-December 2023. Bulk volumes of lithium brines might be submitted for testwork with varied DLE suppliers. The purpose is to determine lithium-bearing brine aquifers at depth, which is anticipated to result in an preliminary useful resource by mid-2024.
• Future Partnerships. Finish-users, DLE know-how suppliers, undertaking builders, and battery makers have already intimated curiosity in taking part with QXR as soon as lithium brines are recognized in drill holes.

Along with its California asset, QXR has a extremely potential portfolio of lithium initiatives throughout the Pilbara area of Western Australia, masking a mixed space of 355 sq. kilometres. The portfolio includes 4 arduous rock lithium initiatives – Turner River, Western Shaw, Break up Rock and Yuletide River.

Turner River Undertaking

The Turner River lithium undertaking is situated about 120 kilometres south of Port Headland and is accessible by way of the Nice Northern Freeway. It’s situated about 12 kilometres south of the Woodgina lithium mine web site, one of many world’s largest hardrock lithium deposits.

Rock chip sampling on the Turner River Lithium undertaking returned grades of as much as 4.90 % lithium oxide in samples of lepidolite. Assay outcomes from extra rock chip sampling returned 1.6 % and 1.1 % lithium oxide. Pegmatites have been noticed in different areas at Turner River, which might be drilled in future drilling campaigns.

Western Shaw Lithium Undertaking

The undertaking spanning 96 sq. kilometres is situated 220 kilometres southeast of Port Hedland in Western Australia with entry by way of the Nice Northern Freeway. A number of pegmatites have been recognized and sampled within the west and south of QXR’s Western Shaw leases. Pegmatites appeared bigger and extra plentiful within the southern part. Quite a few pegmatites returned encouraging lithium outcomes from cell XRF evaluation. Eighteen samples returned between 300 and 600 elements per million (ppm) lithium in pegmatites at Western Shaw.

Break up Rock Undertaking

The undertaking covers an space of 35 sq. kilometres and is roughly 200 kilometres southeast of Port Hedland and 180 kilometres north of Newman. It’s situated alongside the southeast margin of the Break up-Rock Supersuite, which is taken into account regionally potential for lithium-bearing pegmatites. The undertaking is well accessible by way of a longtime street community. The proximity to Thor Mining’s (ASX: THR) Ragged Vary undertaking, which has reported quite a lot of targets potential for lithium inside its tenement space, is encouraging. The undertaking is more likely to even be potential for base metals together with copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold, given the quite a few base metals prospects that happen alongside the north and south margins of its tenement.

Map of Places of Zamia’s Exploration Tenements in Australia

Along with the 2 gold initiatives, Zamia owns an advanced-stage pure Molybdenum (Mo) deposit in Central Queensland, the Anthony Molybdenum Undertaking. The undertaking is adjoining to main sealed roads and close to rail and vitality help. The Anthony Undertaking has a JORC-2012 compliant indicated and inferred mineral useful resource estimate of 24,700 tonnes (53.7 million kilos) of contained molybdenum in sulphide, transition (partial oxide), and oxide zones from floor.

Bayrock Assets

QXR holds 39 % of Bayrock Assets, an unlisted public Australian firm, which has a portfolio of battery minerals exploration and improvement belongings in Sweden, primarily in nickel, cobalt and copper. The 2 most important initiatives embody the Lainejaur Undertaking and the Vuostok Undertaking throughout the Northern Nickel Line. Bayrock is totally funded to hold out its deliberate exploration actions on the Lainejaur Ni-Cu-Co undertaking and the Vuostok undertaking.

The Lainejaur undertaking is an advanced-stage nickel-dominated battery metals asset, the place current drilling (July 2023) has returned 4.7 metres at 2 % nickel, 1.6 % copper and 0.1 % cobalt from 283 metres downhole. The undertaking has an present JORC 2012 inferred mineral useful resource estimate of 460,000 tonnes @ 2.2 % nickel, 0.15 % cobalt, 0.70 % copper, 0.68 g/t palladium, 0.20 g/t platinum and 0.6 5g/t gold.

The Northern Nickel Line covers practically 340 sq. kilometres comprising 5 exploration permits over areas beneficial for nickel-copper-cobalt in Northern Sweden. The first focus throughout the Northern Nickel Line is the Vuostok Undertaking, the place a diamond drill program has returned encouraging outcomes, thus far. Excessive-grade nickel-copper has been intersected together with 6.9 metres at 1.2 % nickel, 2.2 % copper from 5 metres downhole, and in one other drillhole with 6.2 metres at 1.2 % nickel, from 11 metres downhole.

Administration Workforce

Maurice Feilich – Govt Chairman

Maurice Feilich has been concerned in funding markets for practically 30 years, commencing his profession as an institutional by-product dealer at McIntosh Securities in 1998. He joined Tricom Equities in 2000 as head of equities, and in 2010, grew to become a founding accomplice of Sanlam Non-public Wealth. Feilich has a monitor file of success and strong networks within the small sources sector.

Steve Promnitz – Managing Director

Steve Promnitz has vital expertise within the sources sector, having labored within the gold sector with main and mid-tier producers in addition to throughout the battery minerals of copper, nickel and uncommon earths. Beforehand, he was CEO of small/mid-tier firms and has held senior administration roles with international useful resource firms (Rio Tinto, WMC) and senior company finance roles with main banks (Westpac, Citigroup). Promnitz efficiently remodeled Lake Assets, a lithium brine developer, from a $1-million market worth personal firm to an ASX-listed firm with an AU$2.1-billion market capitalization on the time of his departure. He holds a BSc (Hons) from Monash College.

Ben Jarvis – Non-executive Director

Ben Jarvis has intensive expertise within the small sources sector as each a public firm director and strategic advisor. Since 2011, he has been a non-executive director of South American-focused gold and silver mining firm, Austral Gold (ASX:AGD) which is dual-listed on the Australian Securities Change and the Toronto Enterprise Change (TSX-V: AGLD). Jarvis is the managing director and co-founder of Six Levels Investor Relations, an Australian advisory agency he fashioned in 2006 that gives investor relations companies to a broad vary of firms listed on the Australian Securities Change.

Roger Jackson – Non-executive Director

A certified geologist with a profession spanning greater than 25 years, Roger Jackson has appreciable expertise in mineral exploration, mine administration, mining companies and the advertising of mineral concentrates. Jackson is the founding director of quite a lot of firms together with Central Gold Mines, Bracken Assets, and Hellyer Gold Mines. He’s a long-standing member of the Australian Institute of Firm Administrators, member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, fellow of the Geological Society of London and a fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgists.

Dan Smith – Non-executive Director & Firm Secretary

Dan Smith holds a Bachelor of Arts and is a fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia. He has 14 years of main and secondary capital markets experience and has suggested on and been concerned in quite a lot of IPOs, RTOs and capital raisings on the ASX and NSX. Smith serves as non-executive director and firm secretary of quite a lot of firms on ASX and AIM.

This text was written in collaboration with Couloir Capital Ltd.