Further speculation of a regional Lithium play with DVP being...

Further speculation of a regional Lithium play with DVP being the vehicle for Chris/Gina minority stakes.

After Develop Global’s acquisition of Essential Metals, what’s next for Bill Beament?
By BRIDGET CARTER DATAROOM EDITOR @BridgetCarterb8:00PM NOVEMBER 19, 2023

Now that Bill Beament’s $700m mining start-up Develop Global has the $153m scrip acquisition of Essential Metals under its belt, some are asking what’s next for the business. It has copper and zinc projects within its stable, but the big question in the market is whether lithium comes into the picture.

Beament, the former executive chairman of gold miner Northern Start Resources, is an expert in underground mining. That fact may be behind the market talk that billionaires Chris Ellison and Gina Rinehart could vend their stakes into his company. Liontown Resources, of which Rinehart owns 19.9 per cent, is an underground mining operation, as is Delta Lithium, of which Rinehart and Ellison are both shareholders. Yet the market is sceptical, particularly about a move by Rinehart, with questions over why she would need to work with other parties. Yet the three are said to have a strong working relationship.

Ellison holds a stake in his company and sold his 19.55 per cent interest in Essential Metals into the business after IGO tried to acquire the company. Many have questioned how such a plan would work and how the value would be allocated. Ellison has stakes in lithium companies Azure Minerals, Wildcat Resources, Delta Lithium and Global Lithium, and he bought Bald Hill out of voluntary administration. Rinehart owns just under 19 per cent in Azure, 19.9 per cent in Liontown and is also a Delta Lithium shareholder. Collectively, the holdings are all worth well over $1bn.BRIDGET CARTER DATAROOM EDITOR