The sale of the Nevada lithium project for $4m allows Future Battery Minerals to focus on its WA lithium projects. Pic: Getty Images
Future Battery Minerals to focus on WA lithium projects following $4m sale of Nevada play
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- Future Battery Minerals selling Nevada lithium project for $4m in cash
- Proceeds to advance the flagship Kangaroo Hills lithium project and Miriam lithium project in WA
- Australian projects host near-surface, thick, high-grade, shallow-dipping stacked spodumene pegmatites
Special Report: Future Battery Minerals is selling its 80% interest in the Nevada lithium project to Austroid Corporation for $4m in cash to focus on its lithium assets in WA’s Goldfields region.
Exploration at the Nevada lithium project (NLP) had defined an initial mineral resource estimate of 1.5Bt at 783ppm Li for 6.2Mt contained LCE at the Lone Mountain prospect, which is near the mining hub of Tonopah.
Proceeds from the sale will be used by Future Battery Minerals (ASX:FBM) to advance its flagship Kangaroo Hills lithium project (KHLP) and the nearby Miriam lithium project, which have belt-scale prospectivity and proximity to excellent regional infrastructure in the Goldfields.
“We are very pleased with the terms agreed for the sale of our interest in the NLP. While this asset offers large-scale claystone lithium development potential, we strongly believe that focussing on our highly prospective lithium assets in the WA Goldfields will deliver the best returns for our shareholders,” managing director Nicholas Rathjen said.
“Our Coolgardie lithium projects, Kangaroo Hills and Miriam, present a compelling opportunity with a system containing near-surface, thick, high-grade, shallow-dipping stacked spodumene pegmatites in close proximity to world-class infrastructure and operating process plants.
“The sheer upside prospectivity of Kangaroo Hills and Miriam, coupled with the exploration, development and operating track record of our Australian-based team, highlights the scale of the opportunity in front of us in Western Australia.”
He added that selling a non-core asset is an effective and efficient capital management tool and that the company will emerge with a significant circa $8.7m cash balance post sale completion.
This will allow for targeted and efficient exploration of the KHLP and Miriam over the next couple of years while providing the platform to explore for new business development opportunities.
Australian projects
KHLP is ~17km south of Coolgardie and is close to Mineral Resources’ (ASX:MIN) 64.8Mt Mt Marion mine.
High-grade spodumene mineralisation within lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites was discovered during regional exploration drilling in late 2022 with exploration since then expanding the initial results.
Initial metallurgical testing in February 2024 confirmed spodumene is the predominant lithium mineral in the Big Red pegmatite.
Meanwhile, the Miriam project to the north of KHLP hosts high-grade spodumene-bearing pegmatites where rock chip samples returned up to 2.0% Li2O.
Recent soil sampling extended an existing 450m-long lithium anomaly to 750m and identified four new anomalous lithium zones that overlap and are coincident with established geophysical targets.
Both KHLP and Miriam have attractive near-surface, shallow dipping, thick, spodumene bearing lithium pegmatites.
This article was developed in collaboration with Future Battery Minerals, 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.
