Iggy Tan-backed Lithium Universe hits the ASX, jumps straight into James Bay resource hunt

Led by lithium trailblazer Iggy Tan, Lithium Universe has successfully listed on the ASX today with its sights set on a quality portfolio of hard-rock lithium and rare earths projects in Canada and Australia.

The IPO raising A$4.5m at $0.02 per share attracted “overwhelming demand”, thanks to ideal timing and location of its Canadian projects.

Last week, lithium major Allkem (ASX:AKE) reported a whopping 173% increase in the mineral resource for its James Bay project, at 110.2Mt @ 1.30% Li₂O.

This follows a monster maiden resource at Patriot Battery Metals’ (ASX:PMT) Corvette project of 109.2Mt @ 1.42% Li₂O.

The James Bay region is so hot, that Cygnus Metals (ASX:CY5) released a 10.1Mt @ 1.04% Li₂0 maiden resource today.

Lithium Universe’s (ASX:LU7) initial focus will be to fast-track exploration and development at its the Apollo project which comprises 466 claims covering an area of ~240km² just 29km from Corvette.

Apollo is also just 28km from Winsome Resources’ (ASX:WR1) Adina property, which recently announced drilling hits of 107 meters at 1.34% Li2O from 2.3 meters.

“Given the exceptional results from these neighbouring projects, the Apollo lithium project has the potential to be equally successful,” the company says.

Also in Canada is LU7’s Margot Lake lithium project, 16km southeast of Frontier Lithium’s (TSX-V:FL) PAK Deposit, which contains 9.3Mt at 2.0% Li₂O, and 18km away from Frontier’s Spark Deposit, which contains 32.5Mt at 1.4% Li₂O.

In Australia, LU7’s Lefroy lithium project in WA is close to the Bald Hill lithium mine which has a resource of 26.5Mt at 1% Li₂O, as well as Mineral Resources’ (ASX:MIN) Mt Marion lithium mine, which produces 900,000 tonnes of mixed-grade spodumene concentrate annually.

In Tasmania, LU7 also has the Voyager rare earths project, close to ABx Group (ASX:ABX) tenure, where clay-hosted rare earth elements (REE) and niobium have been discovered and hold resources of 27Mt.

Establishing a resource to back a Canadian lithium mine

Lithium Universe aims to quickly build a resource and construct a spodumene-producing lithium mine in Québec.

“We are pleased to complete the re-listing process and commence trading on the ASX,” said non-executive chairman Iggy Tan, who is well-known as one of the first Australian mining executives to identify the lithium opportunity as head of Galaxy Resources.

“The team is now focused on deploying the funds raised from the public offer on the highly prospective ground in Québec,” he said.

“The team has spent many months completing due diligence and assessing these projects and is eager to scale up our exploration and development activities on the ground.

“My vision for LU7 is to establish ourselves as a prominent lithium project builder by prioritising swift and successful exploration and development of lithium projects – instead of exploring for the sake of exploration.”

Lithium Universe ASX LU7 — Pic: Lithium Universe’s projects in Canada and Australia

Track record of developing hard rock lithium projects

Unlike many other lithium exploration companies, LU7 has the essential expertise and skill to develop and construct profitable projects, with a team that has a successful track record of developing hard rock lithium projects.

Iggy Tan’s experience working within the lithium industry dates to the early 1990s when he briefly managed the Greenbushes lithium mine and commissioned the first lithium carbonate plant for Gwalia Consolidated.

He was also one of the first Australian mining executives to identify the significant opportunity within the emerging lithium-ion battery sector when he spearheaded Galaxy Resources.

Tan is looking to replicate the success at Galaxy, having built Galaxy’s Mt Cattlin spodumene project (137,000 tpa of spodumene product) and the downstream Jiangsu lithium carbonate project (capacity of 17,000 tpa).

When Tan started at Galaxy the company’s market capitalization was less than A$10 million and after Tan left, was valued at A$2.5 billion when the company merged with lithium giant Orocobre in August 2021.

The dream team also includes Patrick Scallan, an experienced lithium veteran who successfully managed the world-class Greenbushes Mine for over 25 years and former Galaxy Resources general manager of technology Dr Jingyuan Liu, who played a key role in developing the Jiangsu lithium carbonate project.

Liu is widely considered to be a leading international expert in lithium downstream processing, particularly in the areas of lithium carbonate and hydroxide plant with Tianqi Lithium having specifically enlisted his aid in resolving commissioning challenges at their Kwinana Lithium Hydroxide plant.

Other members of the team are Roger Pover who also worked on Greenbushes and was the plant manager at Mt Cattling and Huy Nguyen is involved with Mintrex, the company responsible for constructing the Mt Cattlin project for Galaxy.

This article was developed in collaboration with Lithium Universe Limited, 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.