Lithium Universe makes ASX debut after $4.5m public offer
Lithium Universe (ASX: LU7) has made its debut on the Australian Securities Exchange following a $4.5 million initial public offer which attracted interest from new and existing shareholders.
The company will be focused on the rapid exploration, expansion and development of its flagship Apollo lithium project which sits across 446 claims and 240 square kilometres in the James Bay region of north-west Québec.
The project is approximately 29 kilometres south-east of the Corvette lithium property owned by Patriot Battery Metals (ASX: PMT) which has a maiden resource of 109.2 million tonnes grading 1.42% lithium oxide.
It is also 28km west of the Adina property owned by Winsome Resources (ASX: WR1).
The spodumene pegmatites at both projects are hosted by mafic metavolcanic rocks in close proximity to the pegmatitic granite Vieux Comptoir and hosted by the greenstone belts of the La Grande sub-province.
Apollo is believed to exhibit similar mafic metavolcanic rocks and pegmatitic granite to Vieux Comptoir.
Demand for the company’s IPO is believed to have been driven by the opportunity to invest in a quality project portfolio of hard-rock lithium and rare earth exploration opportunities in Tier 1 mining jurisdictions in Canada and Australia.
Lithium trailblazer
Lithium Universe is led by lithium trailblazer and non-executive chairman Iggy Tan and supported by a board and management team with extensive project-building experience.
Mr Tan is currently managing director of Altech Batteries (ASX: ATC).
His previous experience within the lithium industry dates back to the 1990s when he briefly managed the Greenbushes mine and commissioned the first lithium carbonate plant for Gwalia Consolidated.
He was one of the first Australian mining executives to identify a significant opportunity within the emerging lithium-ion battery sector when he spearheaded the now-defunct Galaxy Resources, which started life with a market capitalisation of $10 million.
The company went on to develop the Mt Cattlin spodumene project (producing 137,000 tonnes per annum of spodumene product) and the downstream Jiangsu lithium carbonate project (with a 17,000tpa capacity).
When Mr Tan left Galaxy, the company was valued at $2.5 billion.
In 2021, it merged with Orocobre to create Allkem (ASX: AKE) – a $9 billion company rated as the world’s fifth largest lithium producer.
Replicate success
Mr Tan said he was now looking to replicate that success with Lithium Universe and Apollo.
“Our team is focused on deploying the funds raised from the public offer on our highly-prospective ground in Québec… they have spent many months completing due diligence and assessing [Apollo] and are eager to scale up our exploration and development activities on the ground,” he said.
“My vision for this company is to establish it as a prominent lithium project builder by prioritising the swift and successful exploration and development of lithium projects instead of just exploring for the sake of exploration.”