Mining

Galan Lithium well-funded to accelerate lithium strategy with $50m placement

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By Lorna Nicholas - 
Galan Lithium ASX GLN Koreans third largest deposit Argentina salt basin POSCO

Lithium resources at Galan’s Hombre Muerto West project have increased to more than 2 million tonnes.

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Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN) will have plenty of cash in the bank to fund accelerated development of its lithium projects in Argentina’s lithium triangle and Western Australia after it received firm commitments to raise $50 million.

The company will raise the $50 million via a two-tranche institutional placement with the first tranche to bring in $29.8 million and the second $20.2 million.

Shares will be issued through both tranches at $1.15 each, which represents a 10.2% discount to the company’s last closing price of $1.28 on 11 August.

High-quality domestic and offshore institutions were part of the first tranche, with two institutional investors supporting the second tranche.

Galan managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said the company was “delighted” to complete the placement, which introduced a number of “high-quality institutions” to its register.

“This represents a significant milestone in the history of the company and the recognition of these leading investors provides significant external validation for Galan’s extensive portfolio of strategic lithium projects,” he added.

Lithium portfolio

Placement proceeds will fund accelerated exploration and development at Galan’s flagship Hombre Muerto West (HMW) lithium brine project and nearby Candelas asset in Argentina.

Drilling will be fast-tracked at HMW to establish well fields for production, convert existing resources to reserves, and complete feasibility studies.

HMW’s current resource totals 2.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.

Similarly at Candelas, drilling will focus on converting resources to reserves as well as ongoing exploration and feasibility work.

The resource at Candelas is 685,000t of lithium carbonate equivalent.

Over in Western Australia, Galan has an 80% interest in the Greenbushes South spodumene project which is 3km south and along strike of the current Greenbushes open pit operation.

Greenbushes is the largest hard rock spodumene mine in the world and has been operating since 2014.

Albemarle Corporation holds a majority 49% equity in the famed mine, with IGO (ASX: IGO) recently purchasing a 24.99% stake from Tianqi Lithium which owns the remaining 26.01%.