18 September 2024
2024 Financial
Report
Atlantic Lithium looks ahead to achieving full
permitting
and the construction of its low-cost,
industry-leading Ewoyaa Lithium Project
The Board of
Atlantic Lithium Limited (AIM: ALL, ASX: A11, GSE: ALLGH,
OTCQX: ALLIF, "Atlantic Lithium" or the "Company"), the
African-focused lithium exploration and development company
targeting to deliver Ghana's first lithium mine,
is pleased to announce its audited
results for the year ended 30 June 2024.
A full copy of the 2024 Annual Report is
available on the Company's website (www.atlanticlithium.com.au).
The PDF can also be viewed via the following
link: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6623E_1-2024-9-18.pdf.
Highlights
Project Development:
-
Grant of the Mining Lease in respect of the Company's
flagship Ewoyaa Lithium Project ("Ewoyaa" or the "Project") in
Ghana; the country's first for lithium.
o Post-period
end, the Mining Lease in respect of the Project was submitted to
parliament to undergo the necessary ratification
process.
-
Completion of key criteria as agreed under the terms of the
grant of the Mining Lease:
o Admission of
the Company's entire share capital by introduction and commencement
of trading on the Main Market of the Ghana Stock
Exchange;
o Completion and
submission to the Minerals Commission of the Downstream Conversion
Study and Feldspar Study, respectively.
-
Significant progress towards the permitting milestones
required for the advancement of the Project, including:
o Completion of
two Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") public hearings in
respect of the Project;
o Post-period
end, the Project was granted the EPA environmental permit ("EPA
permit"), representing the EPA's approval for the Company's
proposed activities at Ewoyaa, as detailed in the Mine and Process
Environment Impact Statement ("EIS").
-
Completion of the Flotation Study, which confirms the
viability of the inclusion of a downstream flotation circuit at the
Project; to be investigated further as a value-addition opportunity
at Ewoyaa.
-
Commitment from strategic funding partner
Piedmont Lithium Inc. ("Piedmont") to support the development
of the Project towards production.
o In line with
its earn-in agreement with the Company, Piedmont exercised its
option to acquire an initial 22.5% interest in the Company's
ownership of its lithium projects in Ghana.
-
EPA authorisation to divert the transmission lines currently
traversing planned mining areas at the Project.
Corporate:
-
Non-binding Heads of Terms agreed with Ghana's sovereign
wealth fund, the Minerals Income Investment Fund ("MIIF"), to
invest a total of US$32.9m in the Company and its Ghanaian
subsidiaries ("Strategic Investment") to expedite the development
of the Project.
o Completion of
MIIF's US$5m Subscription for Atlantic Lithium shares, representing
the first stage of its Strategic Investment.
-
Appointment of MIIF Chief Executive Officer Edward Nana Yaw
Koranteng as Non-Executive Director and Jonathan Henry as
Independent Non-Executive Director, respectively, to the Company's
Board of Directors.
-
Successful A$8m Equity Placing, supported by existing and new
institutional investors.
-
Commencement and progression of the ongoing competitive
offtake partnering process for up to 500,000 tonnes of spodumene
concentrate to be produced at Ewoyaa.
-
Rejection of two conditional and non-binding offers from the
Company's largest shareholder, Assore International Holdings
Limited ("Assore"), to acquire all of the shares in the Company
that Assore does not already own.
-
Purchase of 24.3m Atlantic Lithium shares at a premium by
Assore from Piedmont.
-
Key hires to add mine build and operating experience to the
Company's leadership, including the appointment of Michael
Bourguignon as Head of Capital Projects and Ahmed-Salim Adam as
General Manager, Operations.
Exploration:
-
Maiden JORC (2012) compliant Feldspar Mineral Resource
Estimate of 15.7Mt @ 40.2% feldspar at Ewoyaa; Feldspar MRE is
confined to the first five years of production at the Project, as
detailed in the Ewoyaa Definitive Feasibility Study.
-
Grant of exploration permits in respect of the Rubino and
Agboville exploration licences in Côte
d'Ivoire to the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Khaleesi
Resources SARL, marking the Company's expansion of its lithium
exploration activities beyond Ghana for the first time.
-
Grant of the Senya Beraku and Bewadze
prospecting licences in the east of the Company's Cape Coast
Lithium Portfolio in Ghana.
o Commencement of
field work at Senya Beraku, including the completion of a 100m x
100m soil geochemical sampling programme and first pass surface
geological mapping.
-
High-grade and broad intersections reported in results
received for a total of 27,791m of drilling completed at the
Project, including at the Dog-Leg target, which contributed 890,892
tonnes to the increased Mineral Resource Estimate reported
post-period.
-
Post-period end, JORC (2012) compliant Mineral Resource
Estimate for the Ewoyaa Lithium Project increased to 36.8Mt at
1.24% Li2O1.
-
Commencement, post-period end, of preliminary mapping
traverses and baseline soil and stream sediment geochemical
sampling over the Rubino and Agboville exploration licences in
Côte d'Ivoire.
Commenting, Neil Herbert, Executive Chairman of Atlantic
Lithium, said:
"I am pleased
to report Atlantic Lithium's results for the year ended 30 June
2024, during which significant progress has been made towards the
Company's ongoing transition from explorer to mine developer and
operator.
"The grant of
the Mining Lease serves as an important de-risking milestone for
the advancement of the Project and represents a major landmark,
both for the Company and for Ghana, in the pursuit of achieving
spodumene concentrate production at Ewoyaa.
"Having
delivered upon the key terms as agreed under the grant of the
Mining Lease during the period, we now eagerly anticipate the
ratification of the Mining Lease by Ghana's parliament.
Concurrently, considerable work has gone into the progression of
the permitting phases as required for the Project, and we now find
ourselves within touching distance of achieving full permitting and
shovel readiness at Ewoyaa.
"In the
current lithium market, the Project's characteristics, namely
Ewoyaa's favourable geology, which enables simple Dense Media
Separation processing, and the exceptional infrastructure available
to us in the Central Region, become even more important. These
characteristics contribute to Ewoyaa's low operating and
development cost profile, which we believe will ensure that the
Project is a success, even in lower pricing
environments.
"At this
important point in the development of the Project, we would like to
thank our Project partners and the Company's shareholders for their
unwavering support and every member of the Atlantic Lithium for
their continued hard work.
"We look
forward to a hugely exciting year ahead, marked by a number of
milestones which will see us move closer to delivering Ewoyaa as a
globally significant spodumene mine."
This announcement contains inside information
for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU)
596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the
European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in
accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of
MAR.
For any further information, please
contact:
Atlantic Lithium Limited
Neil Herbert (Executive Chairman)
Amanda Harsas (Finance Director and Company
Secretary)
|
www.atlanticlithium.com.au
|
|
IR@atlanticlithium.com.au
|
|
Tel: +61 2 8072
0640
|
SP
Angel Corporate Finance LLP
Nominated Adviser
Jeff Keating
Charlie Bouverat
Tel: +44 (0)20 3470 0470
|
Yellow Jersey PR
Limited
Charles
Goodwin
Bessie
Elliot atlantic@yellowjerseypr.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 3004
9512
|
Canaccord Genuity
Limited
Financial
Adviser:
Raj Khatri (UK)
/
Duncan St John,
Christian Calabrese (Australia)
Corporate
Broking:
James
Asensio
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523
4500
|
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Notes to Editors:
About Atlantic
Lithium
www.atlanticlithium.com.au
Atlantic Lithium is an AIM, ASX, GSE and
OTCQX-listed lithium company advancing its flagship project, the
Ewoyaa Lithium Project, a significant lithium spodumene pegmatite
discovery in Ghana, through to production to become the country's
first lithium-producing mine.
The Definitive Feasibility Study for the Project
indicates the production of 3.6Mt of spodumene concentrate over a
12-year mine life, making it one of the largest spodumene
concentrate mines in the world.
The Project, which was awarded a Mining Lease in
October 2023, is being developed under an earn-in agreement with
Piedmont Lithium Inc.
Atlantic Lithium holds a portfolio of lithium
projects within 509km2 and 771km2 of granted
and under-application tenure across Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire
respectively, which, in addition to the Project, comprises
significantly under-explored, highly prospective
licences.
End Note
1 Ore Reserves, Mineral
Resources and Production Targets
The information in this announcement
and the accompanying Annual Report that relates to Ore Reserves,
Mineral Resources and Production Targets complies with the 2012
Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration
Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code). The
information relating to the Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") of
36.8Mt @ 1.24% Li₂O
for Ewoyaa is extracted from the Company's MRE announcement dated
30 July 2024, which is available at www.atlanticlithium.com.au.
The MRE includes a total of 3.7Mt @ 1.37% Li₂O in the Measured category, 26.1Mt @
1.24% Li₂O in the
Indicated category and 7.0Mt @ 1.15% Li₂O in the Inferred category. The
Company confirms that all material assumptions and technical
parameters underpinning the MRE continue to apply. The information
relating to Ore Reserves of 25.6Mt @ 1.22% Li2O and
Production Targets for Ewoyaa is extracted from the Company's
Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") announcement dated 29 June
2023, which is available at www.atlanticlithium.com.au.
Material assumptions for the Project have been revised on grant of
the Mining Lease for the Project, announced by the Company on 20
October 2023. The Company is not aware of any new information or
data that materially affects the information included in this
announcement and the accompanying Annual Report, the MRE
announcement (dated 30 July 2024), the DFS
announcement (dated 29 June 2023), or the Grant of the Ewoyaa
Mining Lease announcement (dated 20 October 2023).