Critical has taken full possession of the Mavis Lake lithium project

Critical is preparing to flex its exploration muscle after completing the acquisition of the highly-prospective Mavis Lake lithium project in Ontario, Canada.

This follows the receipt of final approval from the Investment Review Branch of Canada and shareholder approval received in mid-December.

Critical Resources (ASX:CRR) has good reason to be excited about the project given previous drill programs returning high-grade lithium intercepts – such as 55.25m at 1.04% Li₂Ofrom 80.75m and 26.30m at 1.70% Li₂O from 111.9m – this one including 7.70m at 2.97% Li₂O from 130.5m.

Little wonder the company has started permitting for a 5,000m diamond drill program aimed at defining a JORC resource as part of an aggressive exploration strategy targeting battery-grade lithium.

“We have no doubt that the Project will add significant value to the business moving forward,” managing director Alex Biggs said.

“Our strategy in 2022 is to begin exploration drilling as soon as possible once permitting is completed.

“We have multiple targets to explore with a view to achieving, over time, the milestones set out by the vendors of 5.0 million and 10.0 million tonnes.”

The company has also wrapped up a $4m capital raising with securities being issued today.

Mavis Lake and acquisition terms

Mavis Lake is located 19km east of the town of Dryden, Ontario, in close proximity to the Trans-Canada highway and railway major transportation arteries linking larger cities such as Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

The region is a well-established lithium province with access to hydropower just a few kilometres southwest of the project.

More recently, Tesla announced it will be building a battery manufacturing plant in Ontario, meaning that the company could have a ready customer on its doorstep.

Critical is in the process of completing transaction payments of $1.5m in cash and $1.5m in shares priced at 2.2c each to the project vendors

CRR says it has also committed to milestone cash payments of $1.5m following the definition of a resource of not less 50,000t of contained Li₂O and a further $1.5m following the definition of a resource of not less than 100,000t of contained Li₂O.

This article was developed in collaboration with Critical Resources, 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.