Talga Group Ltd (ASX:TLG) has signed an earn-in-agreement with lithium miner and producer Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A, or SQM, which will allow the latter to fund and undertake exploration at Talga’s Aero lithium project in Sweden, to earn up to 70 percent ownership in the project.
According to the resulting joint venture, this undertaking should occur in stages, with SQM spending a total of US$19 million on exploring the project over the next seven years.
Through this arrangement, Talga will earn a management fee throughout each stage, as well as a success fee if a decision is made to mine the Aero project, where the company has identified lithium prospective pegmatites over approximately 50 kilometres of strike, and picked up surface sample results of up to 1.9 percent lithium oxide (Li2O).
Talga will also retain all rights and obligations in relation to graphite minerals within Aero.
Managing director Mark Thompson said that by forming the JV, Talga would be stepping further along the road to developing a key lithium resource.
“We are delighted to partner with SQM on our Aero lithium project in Sweden, which provides an important chance to build a European lithium supply for the green transition and EU localisation objectives,” he said.
As one of the few potentially large-scale lithium hard rock opportunities in Europe, Aero
might be significant to the region’s battery and electric vehicle industry.”
Talga’s shares have shifted upwards on the news, sitting at 61 cents by 12:12 AEST, a rise of 7.02 percent since the market opened.