Patriot pulls massive Albemarle investment, Rio and Glencore bag...

Patriot pulls massive Albemarle investment, Rio and Glencore bag copper deals

• Albemarle pumps C$109 million into Patriot one day after massive lithium resource announcement
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Patriot Battery Metals has taken just one day after announcing it had outlined the world’s eighth biggest hard rock lithium resource to reveal the big player launching onto its register with a massive cornerstone investment.

After weeks of speculation about Pilbara Minerals and Mineral Resources’ growth ambitions and positions on the Patriot register it was the lithium industry’s biggest fish, America’s Albemarle, that has stumped up C$109 million to take a 4.9% stake in the emerging market darling.

The investment came in at a 10% premium to Patriot’s 10-day VWAP, at a price of C$15.29 per share.

It has sent the company’s Australian CDIs soaring this morning, clocking in at a 10.73% gain this morning to $1.67.

Patriot’s maiden resource at the CV5 pegmatite at its Corvette lithium property in Quebec’s hot James Bay region clocked in at 109Mt at 1.42% Li2O at a 0.4% Li2O cut-off and US$1500/t spodumene price.

The 6% lithium concentrate, the product sold from WA’s world-leading spodumene mines which accounts for over 50% of the lithium raw materials in the global market, is currently trading on spot levels for more than US$3500/t having risen as high as US$8500/t late last year.

But the company says it could identify further resources outside the 3.7km long CV5 pegmatite both within that system and along a number of other targets across a 20km long belt controlled by the explorer, which has seen a number of nearology plays also set up shop on ground nearby by following its recent exploration success.

“We could not be more pleased to have welcomed Albemarle to invest in Patriot. I believe both Patriot and Albemarle can be a big part of building out the required front-end to the lithium chemicals supply chain in North America and Europe over the coming years,” Patriot president and CEO Blair Way said.

“The additional funding will allow us to more aggressively advance the Corvette Property through drilling, permitting, study work and more.”

The deal also includes an MoU with a nine-month exclusivity period to investigate partnership opportunities to study a potential lithium hydroxide plant integrated with Corvette to be based in either the US or Canada.

Latest move in lithium arms race

It is the latest M & A move in the lithium space, which has seen a flurry of activity as the industry’s big boys consolidate and position themselves for an explosion in electric vehicle demand later this decade.

Albemarle was knocked back earlier this year in a $5.5 billion bid for WA lithium developer Liontown Resources, an offer which showed how desperate the majors were to get their hands on additional tonnes.

Its biggest rival SQM made a $20 million investment in Azure Minerals, which has made what could be a large pegmatite discovery near Port Hedland in WA’s famous Pilbara region, while Japanese trading house Idemitsu Kosan made a $46 million investment for a cornerstone stake in Delta Lithium.

Legendary gold executive Bill Beament also announced his move into the lithium space with a $152 million scrip deal to acquire Pioneer Dome lithium project owner Essential Metals.

The biggest deal of all was the planned merger at a combined value of $16 billion of US-based Livent and ASX-listed Allkem, which will create the world’s third biggest lithium carbonate equivalent producer.




Food for thought in the Battery / Lithium Arms Race

Frank