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Alliance raises $32m as Galaxy, Chinese lift lithium exposure

The share register of lithium miner Alliance Resources has changed markedly, with both cashed-up lithium rival Galaxy Resources and Chinese offtake partner Jiangte set to emerge with big stakes in the company.

Alliance has raised $32 million from the duo and is likely to emerge from a trading halt today.Galaxy, which has about $400m in cash to its name and which has been hunting for opportunities, is understood to have tipped in $22m, while Jiangte has contributed the remaining $10m.

The new shares have been priced at 20c apiece, the same price at which Alliance last traded before it went into a trading halt earlier this week.The exact stakes that each party will hold in Alliance will be confirmed today.

Galaxy is understood to have quietly built a stake in Alliance below the 5 per cent threshold at which public disclosure would be required. The new shares purchased by Galaxy represent about 7 per cent of the company’s enlarged equity base, suggesting Galaxy could emerge with as much as 12 per cent of Alliance.

Jiangte, which signed a memorandum of understanding over a proposed downstream lithium hydroxide processing plant with Alliance late last month, already held a 6.4 per cent stake in the miner and should lift its interest towards 10 per cent.

The funds will help Alliance retire the remaining debt it owes to hedge fund Tribeca.Alliance, which was formed through the merger of Tawana Resources and Singapore’s Alliance Mineral Assets, owns the Bald Hill lithium mine in Western Australia.

While the price of lithium and lithium miners have fallen in the past year, Galaxy’s commitment to Alliance, Wesfarmers’ recent agreed takeover offer for Kidman Resources and Albemarle’s purchase of a 50 per cent stake in Mineral Resources’ Wodgina mine shows that there is still plenty of corporate interest in the sector.