Lord (ASX:LRD) strikes MinRes lithium farm-in the Eastern Goldfields
March 20, 2024Lord Resources shares have vaulted in early trading after securing a farm-in agreement with $13.3 billion dollar market capper Mineral Resources over its Horse Rocks lithium asset in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.
Horse Rocks sits within a “supergroup” of lithium assets, with MinRes’ globally eminent Mt Marion and Bald Hill projects and Develop’s Dome North all resting within 100 kilometres.
Mineral Resources has taken note of that fertile territory and Lord’s results to date, leaping on the opportunity to snap up a 40 per cent stake by spending $1 million in further exploration.
The pact will in turn provide Lord with maintained exposure to a high-value asset and the lithium expertise of Mineral Resources, with the junior partner holding an option to remain in the joint venture or convert its interest into a 1.5 per cent royalty.
Lord Managing Director Barnaby Egerton-Warburton said the company was extremely excited to secure the strategic partnership.
“The agreement validates the strong work Lord has already completed at the Horse Rocks Lithium Project and provides the opportunity to collaborate with a world-class exploration team drawing on their knowledge and expertise of this highly prospective lithium region,” Egerton-Warburton said.
“We also look forward to ramping up exploration at our Jingjing Lithium Project, which will provide a two-headed lithium exploration strategy.”
While absolute lithium values returned to date from Horse Rocks have not opened eyes, Lord considered the elevated caesium and tantalum pathfinder elements and low potassium ratios an excellent indicator of nearby economic mineralisation.
Mineral Resources seem to agree, and it can move its interest to 70% of the project through $5 million in expenditures after the initial period, and then claim an 85% stake by providing all expenditure through to a mining decision.
Horse Rocks sits in the northern end of what has been dubbed a lithium “super-province”, and Lord maintains its Jingjing exploration landholdings to the south with two exploration licenses between Liontown’s Buldania project and the operational Bald Hill mine.
It is still early days at largely untouched Jingjing, but a recent sampling program has identified four robust LTC anomalies with assayed lithium and the desired pathfinder elements to explore.
Lord is now planning for an infill soil sampling program to further define those anomalies and allow for effective drill targeting.
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