Galan Lithium has filled its coffers to the tune of $31.5 million from an institutional placement priced at $1.05 per share to help drive development at its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina.
The company says the placement funds will be used to purchase long lead items for its proposed lithium carbonate pilot plant and the stage-two definitive feasibility study (DFS) at the project, while providing contingency funding for additional Greenbushes South work, further exploration and production well drilling.
Galan is also undertaking a share purchase plan of up to about $5 million for existing eligible shareholders.
Galan Lithium managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said: “This is an exciting time to be involved in the Galan story. I wish to thank all the placement participants, old and new, who have strongly supported the Galan production plan that will take it from an initial smaller scale lithium producer to a big 60ktpa player. I also encourage all our loyal shareholders to get on board and participate in the entitlement issue which will get underway later this week.”
Earlier this month, the company announced an increased mineral resource of 6.6 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent at 880 milligrams per litre lithium at Hombre Muerto West.
Galan is proposing a 20,000-tonne per annum lithium carbonate production facility with a mine life of more than 40 years and management argues its latest resource upgrade is a shot in the arm for its ambition to start commercial production in the shortest possible time. Studies have pegged an EBITDA of US$287 million (AU$432.2 million) per annum when full production is achieved in 2025.
The company is constructing a 4000-tonne per annum lithium carbonate pilot plant facility to guide its wider project parameters.
In March, Galan kicked off a 2500m drilling program targeting lithium-bearing pegmatites at its Greenbushes South project that is just 3km from the world-class Greenbushes lithium mine in Western Australia’s South West region. In August last year, the company’s soil sampling and geophysical survey at the site uncovered several anomalies that it says demanded further investigation.
The Greenbushes South tenements cover an area of 315 square kilometres along the Donnybrook-Bridgetown shear zone, which also hosts the renowned Greenbushes lithium deposit.
Galan believes its Hombre Muerto West and its nearby Candelas lithium brine operations are both accurately described as world-class lithium brine projects. The Hombre Muerto region is also home to established lithium brine operations at Livent Corporation’s El Fenix, Allkem’s Sal de Vida and POSCO’s Sal de Oro.
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By Michael Philipps
