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Arizona Lithium (ASX:AZL) on track to accelerate Big Sandy development

ASX News, Mining
ASX:AZL      MCAP $88.36M
29 April 2022 10:07 (AEST)

Diamond drilling at the Big Sandy Project. Source: Arizona Lithium

Arizona Lithium (AZL) remains on track to expedite the development of its flagship Big Sandy lithium project following a $32.5 million capital raise completed over the March quarter.

The battery metals explorer said it had just over $21 million in the bank at the end of March — before the funds from the raise hit its bank.

Managing Director Paul Lloyd said the fresh funding boost would help the company fast-track development work at Big Sandy.

“The capital raised will significantly expedite development as we continue to progress towards lithium production and further capitalise on the shift towards an electric future,” said Mr Lloyd.

Arizona Lithium also confirmed that planning was currently underway to construct a demonstration plant and product qualification capabilities in Arizona.

A scoping study that commenced in February this year with Arizona-based Ausenco Engineering USA South is still ongoing, with metallurgical advances and approval for a Stage 3 drilling program from Arizona’s Bureau of Land Management pending.

Meanwhile, AZL said “promising” new avenues were emerging to capitalise on the infrastructure near the project, coupled with strong Federal and Arizona stakeholder support for lithium and battery development.

In January this year, the company announced it had begun working with Hazen Research on mineralised material from Big Sandy which delivered “encouraging results”. Today, AZL said Hazen was nearing the completion of a bench-scale testing program.

As part of the company’s strategy for Big Sandy, the company appointed Brett Rabe as Chief Technical Officer, adding significant lithium project management and engineering experience to the existing management team.

AZL shares last traded at 17.5 cents on Thursday, April 29.

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