Rare Earth Minerals (LON:REM) has maintained its 17.2% interest in Mexican lithium explorer Bacanora Minerals (LON:BCN, CVE:BCN) after the latter raised £8.8mln in a placing.
REM bought 1.9mln shares in the issue at 77p per share, for about £1.5mln.
Bacanora plans to use the funds raised to advance the Sonora lithium project in Mexico, which is potentially one of the largest lithium resources in the world.
REM and joint venture partner Bacanora are stepping up the pace at Sonora following its supply deal with lithium battery giant Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA).
The project contains a combined indicated and inferred mineral resources of around 7.42mln tonnes of lithium, according to estimates.
David Lenigas, REM’s executive chairman, said Bacanora was entering “an exceptionally busy period” in the run-up to the pre-feasibility study.