Lithium Energy (ASX:LEL) has completed a $15 million capital raising in a ‘heavily oversubscribed’ placement.
The funds raised was via the issue of 15 million shares at an issue price of $1.00 per share.
The issue was completed within the Lithium Energy’s 15% placement capacity and additional 10% placement capacity (approved at the last AGM) under the ASX Listing Rules, to new and existing institutional and sophisticated and professional shareholders/investors.
Canaccord Genuity (Australia) acted as lead manager to the placement.
The funds raised will be used principally to accelerate and potentially expand exploration activities at the Solaroz Lithium Brine Project in Argentina, to advance the development of the Burke Graphite Project (Queensland) and for general working capital purposes.
The funds raised will be used principally to accelerate and potentially expand exploration activities at the Solaroz Lithium Brine Project in Argentina
Drilling has recently started at Lithium Energy’s ‘highly prospective’ flagship Solaroz Lithium Brine Project, located in the heart of South America’s world renowned Lithium Triangle.
Solaroz is located directly adjacent to or principally surrounded by lithium majors Allkem Limited (ASX:AKE) and Lithium Americas Corporation (NYSE:LAC).
Drilling is currently underway at borehole OZDH001 within the Mario Angel concession at Solaroz.
This first hole, of a planned 10 hole, 5,000 metre initial drilling programme, is located adjacent to Allkem’s existing production assets (some 10km from its production bore field) and less than 3km from the Maria Victoria concession which was recently acquired by Allkem as a ‘strategic lithium tenement’.
The initial 5,000m drilling program comprises a combination of 10 diamond and rotary holes, undertaken by a drilling contractor with extensive experience in the Olaroz Salar. This drilling will test the extent and grades of lithium mineralisation, porosity and flow rates across the layer(s) of conductive brines which have been previously identified through a geophysics program undertaken by Lithium Energy.
Lithium Energy reports that part of the additional funding raised will now be applied to securing an additional drilling rig (or rigs) to accelerate this program and to potentially drill additional holes and increase the total metres drilled under this program.
The objective of Lithium Energy’s exploration program is to define a maiden JORC Mineral Resource of lithium from its substantial 12,000 hectare concession area on the Salar de Olaroz basin where Allkem has been producing lithium since 2015 (under a joint venture with Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TYO:8015)) and Lithium Americas Corporation is advancing its Cauchari-Olaroz development project (under a JV with Ganfeng Lithium).
Write to Adam Orlando at Mining.com.au
Images: Lithium Energy Ltd
