18th May 2016 09:56
LONDON (Alliance News) - Rare Earth Minerals PLC said an mining company that forms part of its investment portfolio has applied for more acreage within the Pilbara region of western Australia in an attempt to increase the size of its landholding.
Rare Earth owns a 15.5% stake in Australian-listed miner Macarthur Minerals Ltd, which has applied for an exploration licence to expand its total acreage under application in the Pilbara to 1,379 square kilometres, or 341,000 acres, and to increase its total acreage in western Australia to 1,505 square kilometres, roughly 371,893 acres.
Macarthur Minerals is securing land in an area that is thought to be highly prospective for lithium.
Rare Earth only secured regulatory approval to complete its subscription agreement with Macarthur Minerals earlier this month, allowing the London-listed company to pay CAD300,000 for 15 million units in Macarthur, giving it a 15.26% stake in the company.
Rare Earth Minerals also released another statement on Wednesday noting an announcement made by fellow London-listed European Metal Holdings PLC, in which it holds a 19.8% stake.
European Metals Holdings updated its lithium and tin mineral resources at the Cinovec project in the Czech Republic, which increased its existing total resources and provided a maiden indicated resource covering lithium prospects.
"Building on the already substantial mineral resource, we have seen improvements in [lithium] tonnages and the conversion of these resources into the indicated category. We look forward to seeing further possible upgrades to the mineral resources from the drilling programmes, in particular the programme targeting areas of higher grade lithium mineralisation, which could further improve the economics of the project," said Andrew Suckling, non-executive director of Rare Earth.
Rare Earth shares were trading down 1.8% to 0.511 pence per share on Wednesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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