Trinex Minerals (ASX:TX3) has executed two binding agreements to acquire the Dudley Lithium Project in South Australia and mineral claims that comprises the East Yellowknife Lithium Project in the Northwest Territories in Canada.
Under the Dudley farm-in agreement, Trinex will acquire up to a 90% interest via a two-stage agreement over four years.
PAC Partners Securities has been assisting Trinex with the Dudley farm-in agreement.
The Dudley Project lies on Kangaroo Island in South Australia and contains multiple pegmatite systems that are apparent at surface for over 6km in strike extent and up to 80m thick at surface.
Trinex Minerals has paid an option fee of $75,000 to privately held South Australia Lithium (SALi). The company has also agreed to fund $86,000 of initial works at Dudley up to 12 December 2024.
If the company chooses to earn the stage-one 51% interest in Dudley, Trinex will pay a total of $75,000 cash, issue $200,000 worth of shares to SALi, and fund a minimum of $700,000 in exploration expenditure.
Under stage two, the company will pay $150,000 cash and issue a further $200,000 worth of shares to SALi, as well as fund up to $1.4 million in exploration expenditure.
SALi will also be issued 100 million performance rights, subject to shareholder approval, at the same time shares are issued at the first stage of the farm-in.
For the East Yellowknife Project, Trinex will issue DG Resource Management and Aurora Geosciences $100,000 worth of shares in the company and pay C$900,000 ($969,896) in cash.
The East Yellowknife Project covers more than 15,000 hectares in the Yellowknife Pegmatite district and covers similar geological settings to the company’s Halo-Yuri Lithium Project.
As part of the transaction, DG Resource and Aurora Geosciences will receive a combined 2% net smelter return royalty in respect of revenue generated from any future production from the mineral claims.
Trinex will also enter into an agreement whereby Dahrouge Geological Consulting is engaged as an in-country consultant for technical and geological expertise and exploration oversight at the project.
This acquisition is subject to Trinex obtaining shareholder approval for the issue of shares. If shareholder approval is granted, the transaction is anticipated to be completed by early December 2024.
Trinex intends to seek shareholder approval at the next annual general meeting on or around 26 November 2024.
Managing Director Will Dix says these strategic acquisitions expand and strengthen the company’s exploration footprint in Australia and Canada.
“We are pleased to have been able to secure a highly prospective lithium exploration project in South Australia, one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world,” Dix says.
“Kangaroo Island is a large land mass with a history of mining and a government supportive of exploration and development of mineral resources.
“The fundamentals of the Dudley Lithium Project are very exciting, hosted in the right geology with historic work indicating lithium mineralisation potential.”
At Dudley, fieldwork is currently underway with an initial 1,000 soil sample program planned across the most prospective area. The program aims to define anomalous in lithium and pathfinder elements.
Once statutory approvals are received, Trinex aims to conduct initial drilling focused on testing the Dudley pegmatite and other anomalous targets identified from the soils program.
Drilling will also target the pegmatites below the weathering profile, which is anticipated to be at most 20m to 30m deep, where potential lithium mineralisation has not degraded into clays.
Meanwhile in Canada, Trinex will purchase and interpret detailed satellite imagery for the Prelude Lake and Lightning Projects, with an expectation that fieldwork will begin to ground check interpreted pegmatites during the second quarter of 2025.
Trinex Minerals is an Australia-based resources company focused on exploring for critical minerals that are needed for the future transition towards clean energy.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Trinex Minerals
