Arizona Lithium in the fast lane at Big Sandy following $32.5m placement

Arizona Lithium is in the final sprint to development of its flagship Big Sandy lithium project after receiving strong support for a $32.5m share placement.

The placement of shares priced at 12.5c per share was cornerstoned by several leading domestic and international institutional investors and includes one free attaching option exercisable at 18c within two years from issue for every two shares subscribed.

Arizona Lithium (ASX:AZL) intends to use the proceeds for the design and construction of the Big Sandy research facility, land acquisition, exploration drilling and the immediate commencement of Pre-Feasibility Study once the scoping study has concluded.

This follows the company’s recent appointment of Brett Rabe as its new chief technical officer to help drive the project’s sustainable development.

“We are very pleased to have received firm commitments to raise $32.5 million (before costs) with the proceeds to be used to significantly expedite the development of Big Sandy, as we continue to progress towards lithium production at the project,” says managing director Paul Lloyd.

“The funds will be used to fast track the metallurgical test work, including the preparation of a processing flow sheet and design of a research facility, which all represent important milestones in the development of the project.

“Importantly, the proceeds will also be used for additional exploration drilling with the aim of further expanding the resource at Big Sandy, as we concurrently continue with the sustainable development of the project,” Lloyd added.

This planned exploration drilling, which is now fully funded and will begin once Bureau of Land Management approval is received, is expected to create additional shareholder value as just 4% of the Big Sandy project area has been drilled to date.

Lithium resource, lithium demand

The company is currently carrying out a Scoping Study for the Big Sandy project in Arizona, which is seen as the first step in making it a global model for responsible and sustainable mining.

Big Sandy currently has an Indicated and Inferred Resource of 32.5 million tonnes grading 1,850 parts per million (ppm) lithium for 320,800 tonnes Li2CO3.

Where it differs from many other lithium projects is its proximity to potential customers, being just 960km by sealed interstate highway from Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada.

This article was developed in collaboration with Arizona Lithium, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.