European Lithium Ltd (ASX:EUR) has stepped up confidence in its Wolfsberg lithium project in Austria, announcing that Bayerische Motoren Werkte Aktiengesellschaft (better known as BMW) has paid US$15 million to ECM Lithium AT GmbH – for the offtake of battery-grade lithium hydroxide from Wolfsberg, to be offset against this metal delivered to BMW.
ECM Lithium AT GmbH is a subsidiary of Critical Metals Corp, a company in which European Lithium holds a majority (83.03 percent) of shares, with this arrangement reflecting Critical Metals’ plans to become a key supplier of lithium-ion batteries as part of a European supply chain.
Wolfsberg – located 270 kilometres south of Vienna – is a project in development, comprising 22 original and 32 overlapping exploration licences and a mining licence over 11 mining areas issued by the Austrian government.
It holds a measured, indicated and inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 10.98 million tonnes at 1 percent lithium oxide.
Chairman of European Lithium Tony Sage said BMW’s interest in obtaining material from the project pointed to its viability within the region’s market for lithium.
“This is a huge milestone for the Wolfsberg project which now paves the way for the next financing steps,” he said.
European Lithium has been trading at 5.0 cents.