Update on Lithium Assets in Australia

RNS Number : 6877V

Cadence Minerals PLC

10 April 2019

 

Cadence Minerals Plc

("Cadence Minerals", "Cadence" or "the Company")

Update on Lithium Assets in Australia

Cadence Minerals (AIM/NEX: KDNC; OTC: KDNCY; "Cadence") is delighted to provide an update on preliminary exploration work undertaken on three highly prospective lithium assets in Australia, which was announced on 4 March 2019. Furthermore, Cadence is pleased to confirm the completion of Stages 2 of this transaction which elevates its stake in the three lithium assets to 24% from 4%.

HIGHLIGHTS   

·      Over the past month, the geology consultant to our joint venture partner in Australia has progressed desktop reviews on the three lithium projects - Picasso (Western Australia - WA), Litchfield (Northern Territories - NT) and Alcoota (NT) - which uncovered the following salient points:

o  Picasso: at least 70 potentially mineralised surface pegmatites have been identified within the tenure, which is near Alliance Minerals' (ASX: A40; SGX: 40F; "AMA") high-profile operating Bald Hill Lithium Mine as well as Cowan Lithium and Liontown Resources (ASX: COW;  "COW" and ASX: LTR; "LTR") advanced lithium projects.

As the preliminary work has unearthed some encouraging findings, the team intends to fast-track plans to mobilise to the Picasso site to commence assessing the potential of the pegmatites identified for incremental follow up work.

o  Litchfield: on 27 March 2019, neighbour Core Lithium (ASX: CXO; "CXO") announced encouraging high-grade drill results - 76m @ 1.78% Li₂O from 149m including 21m @ 2.06% Li₂O from 202m - at its BP33 deposit (part of the Finniss project) which is 900m from Litchfield's boundary.

CXO's results confirm there are numerous high-grade spodumene orebodies present in the region, which significantly enhances potential exploration upside for the Litchfield project, especially the prospect of contiguous mineralisation.

o  Alcoota: as a result of interpreting satellite imagery from the site, we are confident that there are multiple lithium-rich surface pegmatites within the tenure that potentially connect to confirmed occurrences in adjacent tenures to the north-west and south east.

·      With all regulatory approvals finalised, Cadence will proceed to complete Stage 2 of the varied agreement with Lithium Technologies Pty Ltd ("LT") and Lithium Supplies Pty Ltd ("LS") which will lift its stake to 24% from 4%.

Kiran Morzaria, Chief Executive Officer, added:

"Cadence's geology consultant has moved swiftly over the past month to broaden the understanding of our newly acquired lithium assets in Australia, uncovering 70 potentially mineralised occurrences at the Picasso project and verifying there is a pegmatite continuum across the Alcoota tenure. Furthermore, Core Lithium's recent drill assay results from its BP33 deposit, which are arguably among the highest in Australia in the past 12-months, clearly benefits Cadence's Litchfield project given it is only 900m away.

These initial findings represent a highly encouraging start and clearly set the stage for an exciting exploration program to unfold over the balance of the year, as the geology consultancy moves quickly to develop these highly prospective lithium projects."

PRELIMINARY EXPLORATION WORK

The geology consultant in Australia progressed desktop work on all three assets since the acquisition announcement on 4 March 2019, which unearthed the following new salient points that enhance the prospective features to varying degrees: 

Picasso project, WA

Further analysis of mapping data undertaken by the Geological Survey of Western Australia (GSWA) and satellite imagery has highlighted at least 70 potentially mineralised pegmatites, which includes multiple GSWA mapped clusters, within the project's boundary. This is an extremely encouraging quantitative start to the exploration program, as more pegmatites, including clusters, are expected to be uncovered in the southern portion of the tenure as GSWA potentially did not differentiate pegmatites in granitic terrane.

Combined, this data will be instrumental in refining targets for the inaugural site visit that will focus on expansive proprietary geological mapping and collecting rock-chip samples to test for elevated lithium levels. In turn, once this material is analysed, the geology consultants will be able to commence formulating priority targets for the inaugural drilling program. Interestingly, as the Picasso project is exclusively on unallocated Crown land, this dynamic facilitates the geology consultant expediting the exploration program.

Overall, with the Picasso project having similar geology to its neighbouring peers (AMA, LTR and Cowan Lithium), which have confirmed occurrences of pegmatites with lithium-bearing spodumene, it is highly prospective and delivers significant exploration upside. Moreover, the Picassso project is highly accessible, as it is 1km north of the sealed Eyre Highway which runs through Norseman, a regional hub for the mining industry, 50km west of the tenure.

Litchfield project, NT

Further drilling at CXO's BP33 deposit, which is 900m from the Litchfield project boundary, delivered more impressive high-grade results - 76m @ 1.78% Li₂O from149m including 21m @ 2.06% Li₂O from202m. Notably, according to CXO's 27 March 2019 release, the latest intersection results "confirm the consistent, wide and high-grade nature of the spodumene pegmatite orebody at BP33" which is a key component of the Finniss project. Within the next few weeks, its is expected that CXO will be completing a Definitive Feasibility Study for the Finniss project, which we believe should materially enhance the exploration upside for Litchfield, given the potential for contiguous mineralisation.

Systematically reviewing information on the Northern Territory government's STRIKE platform highlighted incremental encouraging results, with 35 mineral occurrences identified within 1-2km of the Litchfield project's boundary. All CXO's major deposits (including BP33), which comprise demonstrable mineral resources, are classified as pegmatite occurrences containing lithium, tin, niobium and tantalum. Importantly, the underlying geology and geophysical characteristics of the Litchfield project are very similar to CXO's ground, which has been verified by magnetic and radiometric surveys.

Leveraging the wealth of information available from CXO's ground, the Litchfield project clearly delivers exciting upside potential. The next phase of the exploration program is to reconcile satellite imagery with known information and identify priority targets for the inaugural fieldwork, which will provide more clarity on the extent of mineralised pegmatites across the tenure.

Alcoota project, NT

Reconciling satellite imagery with known lithium-rich surface pegmatite occurrences to the north-west and south-east in contiguous tenures on opposite sides of the Alcoota project, potentially indicates a mineralised continuum zone through the tenure. Importantly, these occurrences have, for the most part, been recorded in the STRIKE system and verified in ASX announcements by Kingston Resources (ASX: KSN), which previously owned adjacent tenure that was then sold to private group, Lithium Plus. Moreover, the encouraging findings from the preliminary desktop review confirm the underlying geology within Lithium Plus' ground is near identical to the Alcoota project.

As limited exploration was undertaken on the Alcoota project historically, there are several targets warranting further investigation that were identified by satellite imagery. Of these, a large target near the central southern boundary, that is clearly readily accessible, stands out as visually it closely mirrors lithium-rich pegmatites identified in neighbouring peers.

However, further work is required to finalise the desktop review which should provide full clarity on where the team should target when they commence follow up field work. 

Finalising desktops and expediting exploration program

Holistically, the geology consultant's next focus is to finish off all the desktop studies then start planning the inaugural site visits and fieldwork. As the preliminary work has unearthed some encouraging findings, the team intends to fast-track plans to mobilise to the Picasso site to commence assessing the potential of the pegmatites identified for incremental follow up work.

STAGE 2 Completion

With all regulatory approvals now finalised, Cadence will now acquire further 20% in of LT & LS increasing its equity stake in both to 24%. LT &LS own the Australian lithium assets. As per the announcement dated 4 March 2019 Cadence will issue 373,544,298 new ordinary shares to the founding shareholders of LT & LS.

Admission and Settlement

Application will be made for the admission to trading on the AIM market ("AIM") of London Stock Exchange plc ("LSE") of the Placing Shares ("Admission"). Admission is expected to occur on or around 16 April 2019. Following Admission, the Company will have 9,091,651,299 Ordinary Shares in issue. There are no shares held in treasury. The total voting rights in the Company is therefore 9,091,651,299 and Shareholders may use this figure as the denominator by which they are required to notify their interest in, or change to their interest in, the Company under the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

- Ends -

For further information:

Cadence Minerals plc	[phone]
Andrew Suckling
Kiran Morzaria
WH Ireland Limited (NOMAD & Broker)	[phone]
James Joyce
James Sinclair-Ford
Novum Securities Limited (Joint Broker)	[phone]
Jon Belliss

Qualified Person

Kiran Morzaria B.Eng. (ACSM), MBA, has reviewed and approved the information contained in this announcement. Kiran holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Industrial Geology) from the Camborne School of Mines and an MBA (Finance) from CASS Business School.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this announcement are or may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''believe'' ''could'' "should" ''envisage'' ''estimate'' ''intend'' ''may'' ''plan'' ''will'' or the negative of those variations or comparable expressions including references to assumptions. These forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts but rather on the Directors' current expectations and assumptions regarding the Company's future growth results of operations performance future capital and other expenditures (including the amount. nature and sources of funding thereof) competitive advantages business prospects and opportunities. Such forward-looking statements reflect the Directors' current beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to the Directors.  Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including risks associated with vulnerability to general economic and business conditions competition environmental and other regulatory changes actions by governmental authorities the availability of capital markets reliance on key personnel uninsured and underinsured losses and other factors many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Although any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based upon what the Directors believe to be reasonable assumptions. The Company cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with such forward-looking statements.

 

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