Liontown Resources is teaming up with Red Mountain Mining to develop its Monjebup rare earths project in WA.
The two companies have entered into a binding farm-in agreement that will see Red Mountain Mining earn 80 per cent of Monjebup if it funds $500,000 worth of exploration within 24 months.
The transaction will also see 40 million Red Mountain shares issued to Liontown, which is advancing its Kathleen Valley lithium project towards production.
Located 80km north-east of Albany in WA, Monjebup spans three exploration licenses covering 910 square kilometres of tenure.
Liontown applied for the Monjebup tenements in early 2022 with the intention of exploring for ionic clay rare earths. Early-stage reconnaissance and surface sampling was conducted at the project, with results returning grades of up to 969 parts per million total rare earth oxide (TREO).
Red Mountain intends to conduct grid sampling and metallurgical testwork as part of initial Monjebup exploration.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Red Mountain to transact with a globally recognised multi-billion-dollar Australian resource company such as Liontown,” Red Mountain chair Tony Flannery said.
“The company looks forward to commencing initial exploration work on the Monjebup grounds, which has previously delivered highly anomolous soil sampling results up to 969ppm total rare earth oxide.”
Liontown – which has been the subject of a takeover bid from Albemarle Corporation – is aiming to produce first lithium at its Kathleen Valley project in mid-2024.
Liontown rejected the Albemarle proposal in late-March, suggesting the bid was “opportunistically timed”.
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