Sage-led Critical Metals takes Tanbreez stake

Tony Sage-led European Lithium has welcomed the completion of an initial cash payment of $5 million by Critical Metals Corp, a company it holds a controlling share in, for 5.55 per cent equity in the Tanbreez project.

The payment is the first installation in CMC’s $211 million plan to acquire a 92.5 per cent interest in the Tanbreez Greenland rare earth mine – one of the world’s largest rare earths deposits - from Rimbal, with the remaining 7.5 per cent share already owned by European Lithium.

Tanbreez is a globally significant mine in the south of Greenland, estimated to contain 4.7 billion tons of rare earth minerals – around 30 per cent of which is made up of extremely sought-after heavy rare earths.

Critical Metals Corp chief executive and European Lithium executive chair Tony Sage said the completion marked a key step in the company’s plans to acquire Tanbreez.

“By acquiring Tanbreez, Critical Metals Corp will be strategically positioned to become a reliable and sustainable supplier of both light and heavy rare earth elements to meet the growing demand of these materials from the technology and defense industries in western countries.

“With this development, the transaction is further de-risked.”

WA geologist Greg Barnes controls Rimbal and was awarded an exploitation licence for the Tanbreez project in August 2020.

Critical Metals Corp’s initial flagship asset, the Wolfsberg Lithium Project located 270km south of Vienna in Austria, was the first fully permitted lithium mine in Europe.