..I quickly ran it through the translator
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A lithium treasure is said to lie dormant beneath the surface of the Koralpe.
An Australian mining company wants to extract the highly sought-after metal from the rock.
from the rock. But mining is stalled. Behind the venture
Tony Sage, a mining exploiter from Down Under, is behind the venture.
who has had his house searched several times.
Text Franz Miklautz Photos European Lithium (3), Getty Images/Paul Kane
Russian oligarch Roman
Abramovich does.
The Italian Fiat scion
Andrea Agnelli does it. And
Dietrich Mateschitz does it, too. They all
keep a soccer club. Abramovich
affords Chelsea. Agnelli owns the "Old
Old Lady" Juventus. And Mateschitz has
two irons in the fire with Salzburg
in the fire. Tony Sage also believes
Tony Sage believes he has such an iron in the fire. In his
case, however, it is not iron
but lithium-bearing rock.
Millions of tons of it are said to be
slumbering in the Koralpe. At least that is what
Sages ECM European Lithium AT
GmbH, a company from Wolfsberg,
which is indirectly influenced by the
influence of European Lithium
Ltd. A company that is listed on the
the Australian stock exchange.
Lithium is a light metal that is
used in the manufacture of cell phones
and used in batteries for electric cars.
cars. At the Wolfsberg offshoot, the
mentioned ECM, Sage is one of the two
managing directors. In Australia, at
European Lithium Ltd. in Australia, he is not the
executive chairman. There
Sage, which is the analogy to Mateschitz & Co.
Mateschitz & Co., has a first division soccer team:
Perth Glory. With this club, Sage has
has reaped unflattering headlines.
But this was not due to the poor play of his
bad play of his team - after all, the club was
the club was twice Australian champion,
but because of a deal that
Sage wanted to make because the club was
were making losses. According to Australian media reports
the 61-year-old tried to sell
80 percent of the club to the London
Football Exchange (LFE),
a cryptocurrency exchange for
soccer clubs. In 2020, however, the deal is
called off again. This is because Sage is unlikely to
Sage may not have looked at its business partner
his business partner carefully enough: As the
Perth radio station "6PR" reported,
the alleged buyer was
a man previously convicted of fraud.
He appeared under a false name. His LFE is said to have been paid by a Turkmenistani
oil trading company for 2.2 million
US dollars by a Turkmen oil trading company.
Raid. But these were not the only
the only headlines that the Koralpen
investor - who, by the way, is responsible
for the mining operation and a planned
and a planned hydroxide plant in Wolfsberg
dollars for the mining operation and a planned hydroxide plant in Wolfsberg. The "Sydney
Morning Herald (SMH) reported in 2012 on a house
about a house search at Sage.
The police apparently combed through the offices of the soccer
the offices of the soccer club, but also those of
Cape Lambert, one of the main companies
of the mining millionaire. The
officials said at the time that it was a
a concerted effort by the tax authority
and the Securities and Investments Commission
in Perth and Sydney
had been involved. Alluding to the
Club name, the SMH wrote at the time:
"No glory for Sage after police raids".
Translated roughly: The raids were no
glory for Sage. The club stressed to the
to the media that the searches
were not aimed at him alone,
but a total of 2000 company bosses
had been investigated by the police.
In another account, a spokesman for the
that the club premises had been entered by the police.
had been entered by the police
had been entered. In 2014, the Herald reported
Sun" then reported on another house search at companies
at companies that were connected with
Sage were related to.
"Market Manipulation. Also with the
Austrian Financial Market Authority
(FMA) is already aware of European Lithium Ltd.
known. The company was condemned to two
penalties. The first time in 2020
to 60,000 euros, the second time last year to 160,000.
"That was because of late ad hoc reports," says Dietrich.
ad hoc notifications," says Dietrich
Wanke, mining expert and, along with Sage, chairman of the
Chairman of the company's board of directors. Listed
companies have to publish important
publish important announcements by breaking news.
"The delayed announcements
were due to the time difference between
Australia and Austria,"
Wanke said. But this explanation apparently applies
only to the first, the 60,000-euro
fine. This was actually imposed because of
due to a late ad hoc report by the FMA.
issued by the FMA. The second
penalty was imposed "for market manipulation
by dissemination of information
and news that give false and misleading
signals to the market with regard to a financial
sent out to the market
to the market," an FMA spokesman explained on
Inquiry.
Sage also had off ence problems in
Africa. More precisely: in Sierra Leone. There
Sages Cape Lambert and another company
company had rights to an iron ore project.
In 2019, however, the government
the licenses. The reason given
the rights holders had not complied with
not complied with "legal obligations and/ or
or a mining lease agreement.
Wanke sees things differently: "These were
reasons that were outside our sphere of influence.
were beyond our control." These reasons had to do with
circumstances and certain local customs
local practices, according to Wanke.
7.5 million from Switzerland. Mining
is a risky and cost-intensive business.
business. Millions are poured into the rock
millions into the rock - even before
whether the mountain will become a vein of gold.
gold vein. This is also the case in Wolfsberg. Regular operation
should have started years ago.
years ago. Already more than a decade ago
the Australians had granted the Carinthian mining industry
the mining rights for
ten million euros. The financing
of the test drillings is
represents an immense challenge.
For this purpose, European Lithium negotiated
negotiated in 2019 with a Swiss company
Helvetican for a loan in the amount of
7.5 million, part of which will be used for the
partly into the so-called definitive feasibility study of the
of the Koralpen project.
was supposed to. But this study is still
not finished, as Wanke admits. He blames
Corona the blame for this. Once the study is
Once the study is available, it will be used to
450 million euros in total investment
investment. And on a grand scale
from "institutional investors, banks
and private investors. Wanke promises
eight percent return. If it goes well
the mining operation is to run for 40 years.
Loan bounced. But the loan
from Switzerland falls through. The Swiss
withdraw their commitment. And
even though European Lithium had already
already announced the deal on December 30, 2019.
announced the deal. The responsibility for
for the withdrawal of the financial backers will
European Lithium's shareholder, who
who sent the Swiss company an email in February
2020 with allegations about Tony Sage, whereupon
about Tony Sage, whereupon the Swiss
which then got cold feet.
had sent. He is expected to send a similar
to the Australian stock exchange in May 2020
stock exchange in May 2020, a blind copy of which
to the Asian Noble Group, with whom European Lithium
European Lithium had also negotiated
European Lithium had also negotiated a financial injection. And
this e-mail brings the man, who is a
German citizen, a lawsuit
lawsuit: European Lithium is suing him for
credit damage. The cash injection
of the Noble Group comes to nothing. The trial
last September at the Wolfsberg District Court.
Wolfsberg. The man
admits to having written the e-mails.
For European Lithium the guilt is obvious.
the guilt is obvious. This sees however
witness, who testifies to the loan
with the Swiss, sees it somewhat differently.
a different view: He is a former manager of
European Limited and is familiar with the
the internals surrounding the borrowing
had been. He testifies that the "documents,
that were presented to me and also to the other
Board members suggested" that "there were these negotiations going on.
had suggested "that there were these negotiations
exist." This refers to the
credit discussions of European Lithium
with Helvetican. The witness continues
"But there was no conclusion."
In retrospect, it became clear to him
that "they were not nearly as far along with the negotiations".
far with the negotiations," he testifies,
he testifies. Nevertheless, the
European Lithium announced the deal on Dec. 30
2019.
Wanke denies that the postponement of
operation is due to financial constraints.
is due to financial needs. "That's not true,"
he explains. Corona is to blame for this, he says.
have not been able to work at all for a long
for a long time. And before that, the market and
customer base were not yet there. We have
no need." Why then was the Lavanttal
lawyer and FPÖ national councillor
Christian Ragger was entrusted with powers of attorney in 2018
to convert the Wolfsberg company into a joint stock
into a stock corporation?
To raise more money? Wanke:
"It is still too early for an AG. The
only need one when the company has reached a
has reached the right size."
The mining expert is convinced that Wolfsberg
the mining expert is convinced that the
convinced. That would be good, too. Especially
for the Perth Glory soccer club, for which the
the Koralpe could become a kind of mountain of fate.
of destiny: If the club is successful, the
the account balance of the club's president
Tony Sage. And that in turn could secure the
the club's existence. Not that
Sage has to sell one of his favorite toys
one of his favorite toys: that's what happened in 2011.
2011, when Sage announced that he would be auctioning off his private
Ferrari at auction. The proceeds
was to go to the club. Glorious.
(20min delay)