Lithium chaser Gold Mountain plans to use a fresh cash injection of $2.25 million from the company’s latest capital raise to turbocharge its exploration efforts in the mineral’s burgeoning Brazilian hotspot.
Management says its exploration to date has identified 250 pegmatites, with multiple soil and rock-chip sample results pending as it eyes a maiden drilling program by year’s end. The company raised its funds via a placement of 300 million new shares at 0.75 cents in a mission supported by new and existing sophisticated and professional investors.
Gold Mountain executive director David Evans said: “We are very pleased with the strong support for the placement from new and existing investors. We believe the strong demand for this capital raising is a testament to the quality of the Company’s projects.”
The company signed a deal last month to pick up 75 per cent of nearly 4000 square kilometres of ground across 204 tenements and 12 project areas in north-east Brazil – a region that is rapidly attracting the world’s attention amid lithium’s rapid rise to prominence. While still widely underexplored, Brazil has quickly become a genuine player in the hard-rock lithium space and Gold Mountain’s extensive portfolio of tenements provides it with the chance for multiple shots on goal.
And a quick peek at the price jump of Perpetual Resources’ stock this week clearly shows why the exploratory effort for Brazilian lithium is well worth it. Perpetual’s stock went whoosh after it announced it had entered into a binding agreement to acquire an exploration tenement package in Brazil’s lithium hub of Minas Gerais.
After closing yesterday at 1.5c its share price turned more than just a few heads after it more than doubled during intraday trading to touch as much as 3.2c.
The area is now one of high activity and one of the main players in the neighbourhood is Sigma Lithium, with its Grota do Cirilo project and a resource of 85.86 million tonnes going 1.43 per cent lithium.
Then there is Gold Mountain’s neighbour, Latin Resources, whose market capitalisation has skyrocketed to more than $1 billion – a leap from $300 million just a few months ago – after the company upgraded its mineral resource and identified a new lithium corridor.
And it is not only dusty explorers heading to Brazil on its lithium potential.
In June, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took a four-nation trip to Latin American in a bid to bolster the political and trade ties the European Union admitted it had allowed to wither on the vine. The EU went knocking as it looked for partners to provide the other sources of trade and critical minerals required for its green transition and to help reduce its reliance on China.
Ms Von der Leyen met the presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Mexico as part of the trade mission.
Now with the buzz about lithium unlikely to go quiet any time soon, it will be fascinating to see what Gold Mountain can uncover when the drill rigs start to hum over its patch of Brazil.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
By Steve Kaless
