Article by Tom Parker courtesy of Australian Resources and Investment.
Gina Rinehart is expanding into lithium after her company Hancock Prospecting signed a earn-in agreement to explore for the battery metal in Western Australia.
The binding earn-in agreement with Legacy Iron Ore and Hawthorn Resources concerns exploration of non-iron minerals at the Mt Bevan project in WA, with a particular focus on lithium.
The agreement will see Hancock make an initial spend of $4 million for a 7.5 per cent interest in the project. The company can then fund $22 million of Mt Bevan exploration and development for an additional 43.5 per cent stake.
This can be done in three stages, with up to $5 million needing to be spent on exploration within 12 months, then a further $7 million to be spent on drilling activities within the following 12 months.
Delivering a pre-feasibility study (PFS) within the ensuing 18 months – expected to cost $10 million – would unlock a 51 per cent interest in the rights to Mt Bevan’s non-iron minerals, with Legacy Iron Ore and Hawthorn to share in the remaining 49 per cent stake.
“The signing of this agreement is a significant step in the development of the Mt Bevan project as it moves further towards commercialisation,” Legacy chief executive officer Rakesh Gupta said.
Hawthorn managing director Brian Thornton echoed Gupta’s sentiment.
“The Mt Bevan project is unique and has delivered an outstanding result for Hawthorn shareholders,” he said. “Firstly we have a world class well defined magnetite ore body which sits side by side with a potential new lithium province on the Mt Ida fault and adjacent to Delta Lithium’s discovery.”
India’s National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) is a major shareholder in Legacy Iron Ore, and there was speculation in May – when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Australia and met with Gina Rinehart – that the NMDC would form ties with Hancock.
The Mt Bevan earn-in is understood to be the first notable agreement signed since Modi’s visit.
India is targeting 30 per cent of all new car sales to be electric vehicles by 2030, with the country requiring more lithium to hit this goal.
