Critical Resources (ASX:CRR) has signed a binding agreement to acquire land holdings adjoining its Mavis Lake Lithium Project in northwestern Ontario, Canada.
The company’s wholly subsidiary, Canada Critical Resources, will acquire the Dryden East claims from privately held Bounty Gold Corporation and Last Resort Resources, adding about 63km2 to the project area.
Under the terms of the agreement, Canada Critical Resources will pay C$25,000 ($27,843) for the claims, also offering each vendor a 1% net smelter royalty on material produced from the tenements.
Critical Resources has the option to purchase 1% of the net smelter royalty back for C$1 million.
The company is required to complete due diligence activities on the permits within 30 business days to complete the acquisition.
CEO Tim Wither says consolidating these claims is an important step in the company’s greater plans to strengthen its Ontario landholdings.
“The identification of highly fractionated pegmatites supports the strong potential for further resource growth,” Wither says.
“These additional claims expand our pipeline of drill ready targets, enhancing the exploration target announced in May 2024, which gives shareholders an understanding of the potential upside at the Mavis Lake Lithium Project.”
Critical is actively working towards meeting its JORC-compliant exploration target of 18-29 million tonnes @ 0.8-1.2% lithium oxide in addition to its current resource estimate of 8 million tonnes @ 10.7% lithium oxide, as announced in May 2023.
Since the return of this estimate, the company has completed more than 58,000m of drilling with notable results including 74.4m @ 1.18% lithium oxide from 176.1m including 32.9m @ 1.81% lithium oxide from 215.6m and 20.7m @ 1.21% lithium oxide from 212m.
In addition to the company’s Ontario focus, Critical has applied for a maximum grant of C$200,000 under the Ontario Junior Exploration Program.
If successful, the company will use funds to advance exploration activities at the Mavis Lake Project, in line with the growing lithium demand.
“We are starting to see encouraging signals from small supply imbalances within the lithium markets. Lithium demand growth remains robust, and in less mature markets, even small supply-demand imbalances can trigger rapid price movements.” Wither adds.
Trading Economics reports that lithium has seen a monthly increase of 24% on the back of its yearly jump marked at 15.01%, representing a recent resurgence.
The commodity is valued at ¥85,682.86 ($18,447.73) per tonne as of 25 August.
Write to Maddison Elliott at Mining.com.au
Images: Critical Resources
