M&A in the WA Lithium space is heating up yet again following LTR's being taken off the M&A table with Gina's huge entry onto their registry.
So what else is left be fought over? Apparently Min Res is chasing Wildcat - WC8 after their entry into Delta Lithium and Bald Hill.
With Albermarle, IGO, SQM, Tianqi and others also looking for deposits this will get crowded fast - with Alb, IGO and SQM all falling in their bids.
Remember Min Res sold 50% of Wodgina to Alb for US$2.3 billion - how big was Wodgina?
Could SQM and Wesfarmer rekindle their partnership in Mt Holland and go big with AZS ?
If we see TA3 turn out to be at 50% to 100% the size of TA1 I think - AZS will be taken out in the next 6 to 12 months - a deposit of over 200mt near all the infrastructure it has been endowed with would be a top priority premium asset to have control over.
The MinRes interest sustains a lithium land grab around established mines in Western Australia, and adds to the intrigue around Albemarle’s next move afterabandoning a $6.6 billion takeover bid for the Hancock-backed Liontown Resources.
A once fragmented WA industry is beingrapidly consolidated by a powerful few, as illustrated by Gina Rinehart and Albemarle’s duelling interests in Liontown, and Rio Tinto racking upexploration tenementsin the red-hot jurisdiction better known for iron ore.
Wildcat last week completed the acquisition of the Tabba Tabba lithium project in WA’s Pilbara through a deal with Global Advanced Metals, which is owned by James McClements’ private equity firm, Resource Capital Funds. Through the Tabba Tabba sale process, Global Advanced and Resource Capital now control a 17.9 per cent stake in Wildcat, plus a royalty from lithium production.
Pilbara-raised Mr McClements is the chairman of MinRes and has served on the board since 2015.
MinRes purchased the Wodgina mine from Global Advanced in 2016 for an amount considered immaterial by MinRes and never disclosed. MinRes then sold a half share in Wodgina to Albemarle for about $1.56 billion in 2018, and Mr Ellison has since recut its partnership with the battery chemicals giant several times.
The latest iteration of the MinRes-Albemarle JV was completed on Wednesday. MinRes no longer has any interest in Albemarle’s lithium hydroxide plant in WA, and Albemarle will pay MinRes $US380 million ($602 million) to $US400 million by December as consideration.
Global Advanced also sold what is now the Pilgangoora lithium mine to Pilbara Minerals in 2014.
Wildcat shares closed at 46¢ on Friday but have been as high at 52¢ since a $5 million capital raising struck at 3.5¢ a share in May as part of the Tabba Tabba acquisition.
The issue of the 200 million shares as part of that was held up until last Thursday and came after the Foreign Investment Review Board ticked off on the royalty aspect of the deal with Global Advanced.
Wildcat executive chairman Matthew Banks declined to comment when asked about MinRes’ interest. MinRes also declined to comment, citing market speculation.
TheFinancial Reviewtried to contact Mr McClements, who is based in London, about Global Advanced’s deal with Wildcat.
Mr Ellison has previously said MinRes will seek to consolidate lithium assets in WA and taken several steps in that direction since pulling out of a billion-dollar commitment to invest alongside Albemarle in their lithium hydroxide JV in China.
Mr Ellison was newly installed as the non-executive chairman of Delta Lithium, a hopeful backed by MinRes and Hancock, which owns the Mount Ida project about 200 kilometres south of Kathleen Valley in an area where Hancock has an array of exploration tenements.
MinRes is also close to acquiring the Bald Hill lithium mine from administrators. The acquisition of Bald Hill will give MinRes three operating lithium mines with processing infrastructure in WA.
The Bald Hill mine is about 80 kilometres from Liontown’s undeveloped Buldania lithium project and south-east of where MinRes operates the Mount Marion mine in partnership with China’s Ganfeng.
MinRes also backed Bill Beament’s Develop Global in a deal to acquire Essential Metals and its Pioneer Dome lithium project near Kambalda. The deal was ticked off by Essential shareholders on Wednesday, six months after MinRes helped vote down a $136 million bid from Tianqi and IGO to acquire Essential.
Mr McClements’Resource Capital last month sold engineering and consulting firm Ausenco for $US578 million. Ausenco co-founder Zimi Meka also sits on the MinRes board. He is staying on as Ausenco chief executive under new owners that include billionaire Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries, Brightstar Capital and the Claure Group.
Marcelo Claure said he planned to use Ausenco to help turn Latin America into a major force in lithium as well as copper.
