Battery metals explorers Winsome Resources (ASX:WR1) and Loyal Lithium (ASX:LLI) are looking to team up in Canada to streamline exploration and government approvals and minimise their environmental footprints.
The listed businesses each own lithium exploration projects in Quebec’s prolific James Bay region, with Winsom’s Adina Project and Loyal’s Triesta Project just 14km away from each other.
As such, the two companies have struck an 18-month memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a ‘range of objectives’ for their projects’ mutual benefit.
These objectives include advancing exploration, securing permits and approvals, and developing lithium mining projects in the James Bay region. By working together, Winsome and Loyal hope to eliminate the ‘unnecessary’ duplication of work and save time and costs through their shared services.
The two companies also plan to work towards minimising the environmental impacts of their projects by sharing their resources.
Winsome Managing Director Chris Evans says this MoU reinforces the company’s ‘already strong’ relationship with Loyal.
“It also marks a formal step forward in meeting Canadian mining regulations requiring companies within a region to collaborate where appropriate to reduce environmental and social impacts.
Initial opportunities already identified include beneficial exploration synergies, teaming up on technical engineering, environmental baseline studies, as well as permitting pathway considerations which minimise local and regional disturbances.
Winsome and Loyal are also committed to collaboratively implementing stakeholder engagement and government relations activities where appropriate.”
“Winsome and Loyal are also committed to collaboratively implementing stakeholder engagement and government relations activities where appropriate”
Loyal Lithium Managing Director Adam Ritchie shared similar sentiments: “This collaboration MoU with Winsome Resources simply formalises the cooperative spirit within the mining industry.
As Loyal progresses with more advanced exploration at the Trieste Lithium Project our commitment to minimise environment and stakeholder impacts is critical.”
The initial focus of the partnership will be on reducing exploration costs by eliminating ‘redundant’ workflows and leveraging regional and local infrastructure.
Though the MoU spans 18 months, the two companies can extend it further by mutual agreement.
Write to Joshua Smith at Mining.com.au
Images: Loyal Lithium
