Ariana Resources (LON:AAU) has sold a package of lithium-containing tenements in Pilbara Australia for cash and shares.
The sale was arranged and carried out by Asgard, Ariana’s 86%-owned Australian subsidiary that specialises in metals for new technologies.
Ariana’s main focus is its gold interests in Turkey but said lithium and gold occur in conjunction in many geological environments.
The sale is to Aussie-listed Dakota Minerals as part of a wider deal with another company, Slipstream.
The tenements contains part of an extensive lithium-tantalum bearing pegmatitic dyke swarm and recognised recently as containing the second-largest hard-rock lithium resource in the world.
Asgard will receive A$147,000 in cash and an 8% stake in Dakota, which has agreed to carry out US$700,000 worth of exploration and to pay US$98,000 in fees.
Dakota has already arranged a A$3.6mln fundraiser to pay for its exploration programme.
Kerim Sener, managing director, said the transaction crystallised significant value on a project that has been incubated within our technology-metals subsidiary, Asgard Metals.
“We see significant, long-term value in lithium as a technology metal with numerous and increasing commercial applications, which is found coincidentally within several gold provinces world-wide.