European Lithium (ASX:EUR) to add to continental lithium assets with Irish pick-me-up
April 22, 2024European Lithium has entered a binding agreement to pluck LRH Resources from the hands of its owner Technology Metals and also pick up Leinster Lithium Project in the project’s namesake province of Ireland.
Early exploration at Technology Metals subsidiary LRH’s 761-square-kilometre wholly owned Leinster project demonstrated 24 intervals of lithium-bearing pegmatites.
These Leinster assets on prospecting licence ground were scattered across nine holes, with grades up to 2.57 per cent lithium oxide at Knockeen prospect.
Leinster project drilling also confirmed a lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatite dike swarm within the project’s East Carlow Deformation Zone, with surface assays and trench samples confirming a range up to 3.75% Li2O.
European Lithium Chairman Tony Sage said the company’s upcoming LRH-Leinster acquisition showed a commitment to continue expanding into the continental sector.
Sage said the acquisition “illustrates our capability to identify and secure ground in highly prospective lithium provinces, leveraging our world-class exploration and project development expertise, combined with a strong balance sheet.
“This also demonstrates the value of our investment in Critical Metals Corp. As we move forward, we can utilise the investment again and again without depleting our cash reserves.”
Western Australian company European Lithium will acquire the asset through transfer of about $15.5 million of its shares in a North American investment, the Sage-chaired Critical Metals Corp.
The West Leederville company’s original stake in Critical Metals was worth more than a billion Australian dollars when Sage rang the NASDAQ bell for the Stateside company’s listing in New York earlier this year.
Critical Metals Corp was built around taking on the challenge of playing a key role in Europe’s nascent sector with what was European Lithium’s Wolfsberg lithium project in Austria, though European Lithium is clearly not finished with a wider continental focus.
Mining is hardly the first thing you imagine from The Emerald Isle, but Ireland is a surprisingly friendly exploration jurisdiction and holds a legacy of several historically productive base metal mines.
European Lithium will be exploring along strike and in the same key tectonic zone as Gangfeng and the International Lithium Corporation‘s Avalonia joint venture in Ireland.
While European deposits are unlikely to match the raw size of Australian deposits, the benefits of an EU regional location are all plus-sides on reasons to prove up a resource.
Europe’s annual processing capacity is set to reach about 650,000 tonnes by 2028, and the EU Parliament has been briefed that it will need to access 18 times more lithium by 2030 to meet projected demand for electric vehicles.
But the Union will likely need some home-grown supply to capitalise on its lofty electrification ambitions, offering a large potential premium for finders of continental region resources.
Please note the following valuable information before using this website.
Independent Research
Market Open Australia is intended to be used only for educational and informative purposes, and any information on this website should not be taken as investment advice or guidance. It is important to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions, which should be based on your own investment needs and personal circumstances. Any investment decisions based on information contained on this website should be taken in line with independent financial advice from a qualified professional or should be independently researched and verified.