Personally, I think they paid too much for the opportunity, but as you say if LNR make a significant Li-discovery then the acquisition cost will be a distant memory.
But…in relation to the ‘value’ ascribed to tenure/ground the timing, situation, and geological context is everything. KDR purchased those two tenements (E77/2099 and E77/1400) from Western Areas for A$6m because of their specific location with respect to known mineralisation AND planned site infrastructure. In 2017 when they acquired the ground KDR had a market cap of $158 million. They had EarlGrey drilled to depth and knew that mineralisation likely continued northeast into E77/2099. Plus the tenements were critical for key project infrastructure components, airstrip, waste rock storage, TSF…without which they would have been stuck. The map below highlights those tenements location relative to Earl Grey and the processing area over at Bounty, and the 3d model from before the acquisition shows that they already has pegmatite intersections indication the continuation of mineralisation trending back towards those to EL's.
So imo its drawing a bit of a longbow to compare LNR’s E77/2143 based on what Kidman paid for WSA’s tenements, at least based on the current situation...fair enough if they discover something then all bets are off.
The big question for me is what is the potential for thick-er LCT-pegmatite dykes across in the siliciclastic pelitic schists. From a temporal perspective, no problem…the pelitic schists are part of the same Youanmi greenstone sequence as EarlGrey etc.
Now KDR obviously had their own view/model based on what they observed from EarlyGrey, and they indicated termination against the major structure that wraps around the east of the Parker Dome and along the western margin of EarGrey:
Personally i don't see it as clear cut as the KDR model indicates, but competency contrasts are still important (just as in the case of gold) i.e. EarlyGrey is well constrained within the more competent igneous mafic volcanic units. Zenith Minerals Rio Li deposit at Split Rocks to the north is an example of Li-pegmatites hosted mostly in the metasediment units adjacent the Parker Dome. So there is precedent for Li-mineralisation in the metasediments, but to date this is on the smaller size of grade/tonnage..but that doesn't mean it cant be better elsewhere.
(20min delay)