Bacanora Lithium capital reduction plans get court approval

Bacanora Lithium said on Wednesday that its capital reduction plans had now been approved by the High Court, as it updated the market on the Sonora Project.

The AIM-traded firm said the capital reduction would become effective on the registration of the court order by the Registrar of Companies, which was expected “shortly”.

It said it had also received approval by RK Mine Finance Bermuda 3, or ‘Red Kite’, under the terms of the company's $150m senior debt facility, for the reduction of share capital and the distribution of the shares in Zinnwald Lithium.

The distribution of the 90,619,170 shares in Zinnwald Lithium would be subject to a number of conditions, including the offer from Ganfeng International Trading Shanghai being declared unconditional, and the expiry of the regulatory lock-in restrictions relating to the transfer of Zinnwald shares on 29 October.

“The making of the distribution, and the transfer of the shares in Zinnwald Lithium to shareholders, subject to the distribution conditions having been satisfied will, in any event, occur no earlier than 30 October,” the board said in its statement.

Looking at the Sonora Project, the company said lithium process plant engineering from the Ganfeng team in Xinyu was aiming for long-lead items to be ordered for delivery to Sonora in late 2022 and early 2023.

In addition, Ganfeng was reviewing a lithium plant production rate above the previously-planned 17,500 tonnes per year.

Earthworks surveys and geotechnical testwork was ongoing within the plant site area, where surface vegetation and topsoil was rescued and removed.

Additionally, Bacanora said it had acquired an additional 500 hectares of land at the eastern end of the plant site location, to allow for future plant expansions.

“As a result of the ongoing Covid-19-related travel restrictions, the site earthworks engineering packages that had previously been rescheduled will now commence in December 2021, with civil and concrete works scheduled for the first and second quarters of 2022,” the board said in its statement.

“The accommodation facilities for the construction teams are now being manufactured in Sonora, and the first camp units will be delivered to site in December.

“The project continues to maintain its previously advised delivery schedule, with the first lithium plant commissioning planned for late in the fourth quarter of 2023.”

At 1201 BST, shares in Bacanora Lithium were down 0.48% at 66.68p.