Premier1: a lithium spin-out with a fresh strategy

SensOre has announced a restructure that will see its technology assets demerged into a new entity, and the company become a lithium-focused explorer.

The restructure comes as SensOre looks to acquire the 70 per cent stake in Exploration Ventures AI (EVAI) it previously did not own, which includes the Abbotts North lithium project in Western Australia.

SensOre has bought Deutsche Rohstoff AG’s stake in EVAI, with Deutsche Rohstoff to acquire 34.3 million SensOre shares and gain a 19.9 per cent stake in SensOre.

SensOre will be rebranded as Premier1 Lithium as part of the restructure, which is to be funded by a $3 million share placement. Funds will also go towards the drilling of Abbotts North.

Premier1 will use SensOre’s data cube and machine learning technology to support exploration of Abbotts North and other lithium projects in WA including Montague, Yalgoo and Gecko North.

Abbotts North, where several pegmatite dykes have been discovered, has returned rock chips samples as high as 1.25 per cent lithium oxide (Li₂0).

“Outcropping pegmatites in the vicinity of the anomalous area are on average two–three metres wide, up to 350m long and returned up to 1.25 per cent Li₂0 in surface rock chip samples,” SensOre said.

“The pegmatites can be traced under cover to the east over an area of 1.5km within the main Buttamiah prospect.”

SensOre said it has gained “significant interest” from “a number of strategic investors” in its technology assets. Once the demerger is completed, Premier1 will retain certain usage rights to the technology.

SensOre’s acquisition of EVAI and its $3 million placement are contingent on the technology demerger being approved, which the company hopes to complete by January 31.

“Minerals technology has largely been the domain of unlisted companies with access to venture capital funding,” SensOre said.

“Unfortunately, SensOre has been unable to gain traction from institutional and retail investors on the ASX to match the depth of capital and interest from the largely US-based technology market.

“The demerger provides an opportunity to rectify this issue and unlock value for shareholders.”