Perth-based explorer Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) is set to buy the Tabba Tabba Tantalum Mine and Lithium-Tantalum Project in Western Australia from private miner Global Advanced Metals Wodgina (GAM).
Under the terms of the all-scrip deal, Wildcat will pay GAM roughly 186.7 million WC8 shares and 62.2 million performance rights for full control of the assets, which lie near Port Hedland in WA’s Pilbara region.
On top of the share transfer, Wildcat will grant GAM a 0.75% gross revenue royalty with respect to the sale of lithium products from Tabba Tabba and a 1% gross revenue royalty for the sale of tantalum products from the project. Wildcat will also assume GAM’s obligations under an existing 1% net smelter royalty (NSR) for the sale of tantalum products extracted from Tabba Tabba.
Further, GAM will have the first right of refusal to purchase tantalum concentrate from the project at a 10% discount to the market price of the commodity in respect of secondary tantalum concentrate and a 45% discount to the market price of secondary tantalum concentrate in respect of primary tantalum concentrate.
As part of the conditions of the Tabba Tabba deal, Wildcat needs to raise at least $5 million and have $10 million in the bank before the purchase can go ahead. The company’s cash balance sat at $4.9 million at the end of March.
Shares in Wildcat Resources have spiked 35% to $0.054 at 2:47pm on 17 May.
Commenting on the acquisition, Wildcat Executive Director Matthew Banks says: “This is a big step forward for the company to acquire such a highly prospective lithium exploration project that adds to our already large ground position in the World Class Pilbara Lithium Province.
Tabba Tabba is a proven LCT pegmatite system that was within Pancontinental’s tantalum portfolio in the 1980s, along with Pilgangoora (Pilbara Minerals Ltd), Wodgina (Mineral Resources Ltd) and Yinnertharra (Delta Lithium Ltd).
“Our technical team believes there is significant exploration upside at Tabba Tabba; it is located within granted mining leases, and we have approval for a 200-hole drill program.”
Our technical team believes there is significant exploration upside at Tabba Tabba; it is located within granted mining leases, and we have approval for a 200-hole drill program. On deal completion, we will welcome a range of major shareholders to the company and look forward to following through with discovery-focussed drill programs earmarked for 2023.”
To support the purchase and subsequent exploration of the Tabba Tabba project, Wildcat has tapped investors for $7 million through a share placement, with 200 million shares on offer at $0.035 per share. The company says it has ‘firm bids’ in place for the capital raise, which will take its cash balance to over $10 million.
The company plans to spend at least $1 million on the ground at Tabba Tabba within its first year of owning the project.
Looking ahead, the company plans to upgrade the existing tantalum Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for the new project sometime in 2024 or 2025, should it be able to define a maiden lithium resource. The project’s current MRE sits at 318,100 tonnes @ 950 parts per million (ppm) tantalum for 666,200 pounds of contained tantalum.
Wildcat Resources is an ASX-listed explorer targeting ‘world-class’ provinces across Australia for a range of commodities. The company’s project portfolio includes the Bolt Cutter and Mt Adrah gold projects in Western Australia and New South Wales, respectively, and the Fraser Range project in Western Australia, which is prospective for nickel, copper, and gold.
Images: Wildcat Resources Ltd
