Bacanora Minerals to progress with feasibility study at lithium project

AIM-listed explorer Bacanora Minerals said it had gained the necessary funds during to progress with a feasibility study at its lithium carbonate project in Mexico

For the year ended 30 June, the company had £29m in cash raised partly from two equity placings.

Chief executive Peter Secker said, "Bacanora continues to transition from an exploration company into a lithium development company. The feasibility study for the development of a two stage, 35,000 tonne per annum lithium carbonate producer is now well underway and operations at the Hermosillo pilot plant have produced battery grade material for trials in the Asian market.

“Bacanora is fully funded for this following successful placings which saw our project endorsed by some significant institutions. Given the lithium market fundamentals, and the advanced nature of our project, we believe we are well positioned to capitalise on the growing demand for this 21st century commodity."

In December 2015, the company raised $17.9m (£8.8m) through a private placement of 11.4m shares at $1.51 (£0.77) secured by its first major institutional shareholder, M&G Investments.

During the quarter ended June, the company also raised about $14.7m (£7.7m) through 9.75m units at $1.48 (£0.79), with each unit was comprised of one share of the company and a 0.3 warrant, which can be exercised into one share at $1.48 (£0.79).

In April, the company filed on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR), a filing system developed for Canadian securities administrators, the results of the pre-feasibility study for the development of the mine and lithium carbonate processing facility at the Sonora lithium project and found a pre-tax internal rate of return of 29% and an associated pre-tax net present value of $776m at an 8% discount.

A 4,000 metre drilling programme was completed at the Sonora lithium project in Mexico, which comprising 3,000 metres to upgrade a portion of the current mineral resource and 1,000 metres for geotechnical and hydrological drilling for a feasibility study

A total of 3,896 metres was drilled in 31 holes on the La Ventana site, along with 560 metres in 5 geotech holes with 16 more holes programmed to complete the geotech study.

The drilling indicated a mineral resource of 259 Mt averaging 3,200 ppm Li for 4.5 Mt of lithium carbonate equivalent ("LCE").

On September 30, the company said it had received a proposal from Rare Earth Minerals, which has a 19.1% stake in the company, and Bacanora’s 30% partner in its Mexilit and Megalit subsidiaries, for an all-share with Rare Earth acting as the acquiring entity. Bacanora rejected the proposal as it undervalued the company and jeopardized the development of the project.