Anson Resources to expand Paradox lithium footprint through strategic acquisition of Green Energy Lithium Project
Last updated: 21:15 17 Jul 2023, First published: 20:36 17 Jul 2023
Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) has agreed to buy the strategically located Green Energy Lithium Project from Legacy Lithium Corp, which will result in ASN’s Paradox Lithium Project becoming one contiguous mineralised block with an 8% increase in land area, to a total of 231.35 square kilometres.
The company is looking to acquire all the placer claims that make up the project from Legacy Lithium Corp. for US$1 million in cash and 15,060,981 ordinary shares.
Should the acquisition go through, the increase in the project area is expected to result in an increase in Anson’s exploration target of 14% as seen below:
The acquisition also provides near-term resource upgrade potential, with the Green Energy Lithium Project showing potential to deliver an increase in the existing JORC mineral resource estimate at Paradox without the need for further drilling.
The project area contains 18 historic oil and gas wells. Three of these wells have recorded lithium values - 173ppm in Clastic Zone 31, 134ppm in Clastic 19 and 81ppm in the Mississippi Units.
The Green Energy Project comprises 208 placer claims over a total area of 16.85 square kilometres and is immediately adjacent to the flagship Paradox Lithium Project.
Anson will adopt the Plan of Operation (POO) and an Application to Drill (APD) with the Bureau of Land Management and the Utah Department of Oil, Gas and Minerals (UDOGM) lodged by the previous owners to re-enter the Cane Creek Fed 11-1 well.
“Anson first reached out to the previous owners of this property five years ago to purchase these claims. Negotiations with Legacy Lithium to acquire this strategic important property began in 2023,” executive chairman and CEO Bruce Richardson said.
“It is extremely pleasing that these negotiations have been successful as the addition of the Legacy claims forms one large
contiguous block of over 230 square kilometres of claims of the Paradox lithium-rich brines and at the same time eliminates any potential dispute over ownership of the lithium that to be extracted.
"It is expected that the JORC resource will increase as the area of interest is extended over the purchased claims, upon completion of the Conditions Precedent, providing more project value to Anson shareholders.”
Why the Green Energy Lithium Project
This strategic acquisition is highly complementary to Anson’s lithium brine development plans in the Paradox Basin area and the historical lithium-rich brines in the newly purchased area should result in an increase in the indicated and inferred resource categories of the already estimated 1.04 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) JORC resources at the Paradox Project.
Anson will use data generated from historical oil wells drilled on the Green Energy Project to further develop the flow model it is currently creating using independent contractors.
Historical grades reported in supersaturated brines have led Anson to confirm a substantial exploration target for the project of 310 million tonnes to 350 million tonnes of brine, grading 108–200ppm lithium and 2,000–3,000ppm bromine.
Plan showing the location of Legacy Lithium Corp. Green Energy Lithium Project claims.
Acquisition terms
The transaction is subject to Legacy shareholder approval, with the closing date of the agreement to be five business days following satisfaction of conditions being met.
Anson will pay US$1 million cash and issue one-eighth (1/8) of the freely tradeable consideration shares to Legacy on the closing date.
The remaining consideration shares are to be held in escrow in trust for the benefit of Legacy and released to Legacy as follows:
- One-quarter (1/4) of the remaining consideration shares being released on each of the dates that is six, 12, 18 and 24 months following the closing date, with the result that all escrow shares will be released by the date that is 24 months following the closing date.
Anson has a portfolio of minerals projects in key demand-driven commodities but is focused on developing the Paradox Project into a significant lithium-producing operation.
Its goal is to discover, acquire and develop natural resources that meet the demand of tomorrow’s new energy and technology markets.
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