European Lithium: CRML increases stake in giant Tanbreez REE project to 42pc

European Lithium’s exposure to Tanbreez climbs after CRML acquires additional 36.45% stake in giant REE deposit
CRML now holds 42% of Tanbreez, completing Stage 1 of its plan to acquire 92.5% of the project
Tanbreez expected to be major non-Chinese supplier of light and heavy REEs

Special Report: European Lithium now has greater exposure to the giant Tanbreez rare earths deposit in Greenland after Critical Minerals Corp acquired an additional 36.45% interest through an issue of 8.4 million shares.

The move, which gives Nasdaq-listed CRML a 42% stake in Tanbreez, completes the stage 1 investment in its plan to acquire a 92.5% controlling interest in the project.

Tanbreez founding shareholder Gregory Barnes and his Greenland-based team, who have been working on Tanbreez since its discovery, will remain actively involved with the project.

Barnes is a veteran geologist who has been working in the mining and exploration space for nearly 50 years and is considered a legend of the industry by many. His experience spans around the world.

The Tanbreez management team has already estimated the resource at 4.7 billion tonnes, including 28.2 million tonnes of total rare earth oxides, with heavy rare earth elements comprising more than 25% of the resource.

This also increases European Lithium’s (ASX:EUR) exposure to the project through its ~67.79 million CRML shares. It also holds and retains a direct 7.5% stake in Tanbreez.

CRML chief executive officer and EUR executive chairman Tony Sage said the completion of Stage 1 was another pivotal milestone in CRML’s strategic acquisition of Tanbreez.

“Tanbreez is a game-changing rare earth asset for the West, an assessment supported by both our due diligence, including our visit to the project last week, as well as third-party evaluations,” Sage said.

“By acquiring Tanbreez, we are taking a key step towards positioning Critical Metals Corp as a reliable and long-term strategic supplier of both light and heavy rare earth elements to meet the escalating demand for these materials for technology and defence applications in the western world.”

Game changing asset

China currently produces some 60% of the world’s raw REE supply and a commanding 90% of refined REEs.

Naturally, this has many concerned due to security of supply, particularly since they are used for a range of critical applications including permanent rare earth magnets used in electric vehicle motors and wind turbines, electronics, medical equipment, and military hardware.

Cue a frenzied hunt for non-Chinese sources of REE with the Tanbreez project having the potential to make a significant impact.

Tanbreez is a fully permitted large tonnage mining project in south Greenland with exposure to three major products including eudialyte (soluable REE, zirconium, and tantalum), arfvedsonite, and feldspar.

The project is well understood with 414 drill holes and more than 366,000 assays completed along with testing of a ~709t bulk sample.

Its resource of 28.2Mt TREO makes it one of the world’s largest known REE deposits. Due to the shallow nature of the deposit, a potential open pit operation with minimal waste would be most suited.

Tanbreez also has year-round direct shipping access via deep water fjords connected to the North Atlantic Ocean and sits within a region with the mildest weather conditions in Greenland.

This article was developed in collaboration with European 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.