Pursuit Minerals Ltd (ASX:PUR) has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the issued capital in Trilogy Minerals Pty Ltd, an Argentina-focused lithium company, which holds the rights to more than 9,233 hectares at the Rio Grande Sur Project in the Lithium Triangle of South America.
Trilogy's advanced project is in the heart of the triangle, which is considered the world’s foremost region for future new lithium supply and is home to industry leaders SQM and Albemarle in addition to many junior resource companies.
The project has a clear de-risked pathway to complete feasibility and thereafter consider moving towards production given its location and proximity to an already existing NI 43-101 resource.
Moving forward, Pursuit will undertake a capital raising of A$2 million as part of an $8 million fundraising initiative to fund the exercise of options over the Trilogy project and provide working capital.
Emerging lithium exploration company
Pursuit managing director Bob Affleck said: “The acquisition of Trilogy will see Pursuit expand its operations to become an emerging lithium exploration company with resources in a highly prospective lithium-rich region.
“With lithium prices in excess of $85,000 a tonne, Pursuit is well placed to take advantage of one of the world’s most sought-after battery minerals.
“The board feels that the acquisition creates a clear de-risked pathway to potential project development for the company and we look forward to combining with the Trilogy team to grow the company for all shareholders.”
About the project
Rio Grande Sur Project is within the Rio Grande Salar (Salt Lake) which covers about 27,500 hectares encompassing a NI 43-101 inferred resource of 2.1 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent at an average grade of 370mg/lithium to a depth of 100 metres.
The closest major Argentinian city is Salta, which is 280 kilometres from the site.
This project also has easy access to the Chilean port of Antofagasta which is 336 kilometres from the border crossing of Socompa, 40 kilometres North of the Rio Grande Sur Project.
Forward plan
Following completion of the transaction, Pursuit intends to conduct a work program incorporating additional deep resource definition drilling that along with pump and porosity testing would enable the evaluation of the resource base for conversion to mineral resources and ore reserves that can be reported in accordance with the JORC Code.
Work is anticipated to be completed within two years and will be funded using internal cash reserves being raised as part of the transaction.
The next steps for the project are to carry out a bankable feasibility study to convert the existing resources to be JORC-compliant to the measured category.
On the exploration front, Pursuit intends to undertake an initial exploration program comprising TEM Surveying, a desktop study to convert the NI 43-101 to a JORC-compliant resource and drilling to publish an upgraded JORC resource.