Future Battery Minerals picks up new lithium play

Future Battery Minerals has agreed to acquire 85 per cent of the Miriam lithium project where high-grade spodumene has already been found, stretching its ground north of the company’s promising Kangaroo Hills project near Coolgardie in WA.

The company also revealed that former Fortescue Metals Group CEO and mining heavyweight Nev Power will step into the role of non-executive chairman, effective today.

Future Battery has signed a binding purchase agreement to acquire 85 per cent of the issued capital of Coolgardie Nickel, a wholly owned subsidiary of asx-listed Corazon Mining. The Miriam lithium project is currently owned by Coolgardie Nickel.

The project is located immediately north of Future Battery’s flagship Kangaroo Hills lithium project and is considered a strategic acquisition that consolidates the company’s landholding in the region.

Miriam hosts high-grade spodumene bearing pegmatites with rock chip samples up to 1.85 per cent lithium oxide and is about 3.5km north of Future Battery’s impressive Big Red discovery.

Promisingly, geochemical soil sampling previously undertaken by Corazon revealed a primary target of about 1.6 km in strike length, with a second trend spanning about 600m.

Management believes the absence of historic drilling for lithium at Miriam provides a significant opportunity for future exploration success and the company plans to conduct detailed exploration immediately to generate some drill targets. It is looking to begin a maiden drill program at Miriam during the third quarter this calendar year.

Given our strong belief in the Kangaroo Hills Lithium Project, this acquisition represents an opportunistic and logical move to further consolidate our landholding in the region. The Miriam Project offers a highly prospective, drill-ready opportunity. This strategic addition is on ground endowed with confirmed outcropping spodumene lithium-bearing pegmatites and we look forward to commencing work at Miriam immediately, conducting detailed target generation with first drilling to commence during Q3 CY24.

The total consideration for the acquisition is $250,000 cash deposit on execution of the agreement with $750,000 in cash at completion, in addition to 16,129,033 fully paid ordinary shares in Future Battery Minerals at completion and 120,967,744 Performance rights at completion with various staggered vesting conditions attached.

In addition, the company is proposing to undertake an equity capital raising via a placement to professional and sophisticated investors.

The transaction is expected to complete about mid-May, with Corazon retaining 100 per cent of the base and precious metal rights at Miriam.

The Miriam project is located about 10 km south/south-west of the goldfields town of Coolgardie, itself about 38km from the historical gold mining town of Kalgoorlie. Miriam lies immediately north and is contiguous to Kangaroo Hills, effectively significantly expanding the footprint of that already successful project.

Miriam covers an area of about 6 km by 1.5 km and comprises four prospecting licences and one prospecting licence application. In December 2022, Corazon announced the discovery of a spodumene bearing outcrop at the site, with high grade rock chip samples returning up to 1.85 per cent lithium oxide.

Last year, geochemical soil sampling revealed a large lithium soil anomaly, extended from the weathered outcrop of spodumene-rich pegmatite, highlighting potential for further lithium bearing pegmatites to be present undercover at Miriam.

The company says previous sampling and mapping only focused on the visible spodumene occurrences. During a recent field visit it was observed that pegmatites were common within numerous historic gold workings located on the tenure and are yet to be thoroughly sampled. A detailed mapping and rock chip sampling program will now be carried out on the entire project area upon completion of the acquisition.

Future Battery’s Big Red deposit includes previous head-turning drill hits such as 29m at 1.36 per cent lithium oxide from 38m, 27m going 1.32 per cent from 64m, 22m at 1.24 per cent from 23m and 23m going 1.19 per cent lithium oxide.

It is presently operating a 3000m drill program to test for a northern extension to the deposit and says extending the system is the focus of the new program, with the Big Red North and Whip Tail anomalous targets to be tested in the drill campaign.

Future Battery also revealed existing non-executive director Neville (Nev) Power has been appointed to the role of non-executive chairman effective today. Power was the former Managing Director of mega miner Fortescue Metals Group and his elevation to the chair follows the decision of incumbent chairman Mike Edwards to step back to a non-executive director role.

Power ran Twiggy Forrest’s Fortescue Metals Group from 2011 to 2018 and oversaw a quadrupling of its production to over 170 million tonnes per annum. During that time FMG managed to positioned itself as the lowest cost supplier of seaborne iron ore to China.

Mr Power said: “I am delighted to assume the chair role moving forward. I look forward to playing my part in successfully guiding FBM’s excellent team in navigating the advancement of our lithium assets in Western Australia and Nevada. With our strategic positioning in these regions, we are well placed to capitalise on lithium’s critical global role.”

Kangaroo Hills is some 30km west of Mineral Resources’ highly successful Mt Marion lithium project that boasts a 66.1 million tonne resource grading 1.36 per cent lithium oxide.

Future Battery also has a promising lithium play in Nevada in the United States, albeit with slightly different geology known as “claystone hosted” lithium that is neither brine or hard rock. It owns 80 per cent of the Nevada lithium project, which is comprised of five key prospects – Lone Mountain, Western Flats, San Antone, Traction and Heller. Management says its consulting partner in Nevada now has all assays from the latest batch of drillholes and it expects to have a maiden mineral resource estimate on the table soon.

All of the prospects within the project area are hosted in the clays of the Siebert Formation, which also hosts lithium mineralisation in adjacent tenements at American Lithium’s TLC deposit and American Battery Technology Corporation’s Tonopah Flats lithium project.

The Nevada project area is home to North America’s only producing lithium mine, Albemarle Corporation’s Silver Peak operation that has been pumping out lithium since the 1960s. It sits about 45km away from Future Battery’s ground.

Future Battery’s Nevada project is also just 200km south-east of the lithium-hungry Tesla gigafactory where demand for the battery metal is modelled to grow in line with the expected rapid growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales.

Whilst the Nevada project provides a bit of blue sky for Future Battery, its Kangaroo Hills project is shaping up as the real thing with serious grade solid length drill hits and multiple targets yet to be fully explored.

The addition of the Miriam project will give the company room to move and expand Kangaroo Hills without impediment.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au