Corcel Regulatory News (CRCL)

Corcel PLC

("Corcel" or the "Company")

Option to Acquire Australian Lithium Project

22 February 2023

Corcel Plc (London AIM: CRCL), the extractive industries exploration and development company, with interests in battery metals including nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements, announces that it has signed an exclusive 30-day option with Huntsman Exploration Inc. ("HMAN") to acquire 100% of the lithium rights of the Canegrass Lithium Project, consisting of several granted mineral tenements, adjacent to Aldoro Resources Ltd's ("Aldoro"), Wyemandoo Pegmatite project in Western Australia.

Corcel Chief Executive Officer, Scott Kaintz commented: "We are delighted to rapidly follow our recent acquisition and subsequent farm out of Mt Weld, with an option to acquire a second high quality Australian battery metals asset. The Canegrass Lithium project, which sits next to (and could be an extension of) Aldoro's existing pegmatite project, has generated rock chip sample grades of up to 2% Li20 and rubidium grades of up to 1.8% and is ripe for near term high impact drill activity. Meanwhile, the market for lithium market remains buoyant with prices well above multi-decade historical norms." 

About the Canegrass Lithium Project

The project covers an area extending over part of the Windimurra Igneous Complex, a large differentiated layered ultramafic to mafic intrusion emplaced within the Yilgarn craton of Western Australia. It is conical to a sheet-like body intruded into the Archaean granite-greenstone terrain of the Murchison Province, outcrops over an area of approximately 2,500 km2 and has an age of approximately 2800 Ma. The complex is dominantly comprised of basic cumulate rocks that can broadly be classified as gabbroic in composition. Magmatic layering dips inwards at the margins and flattens in the centre. It is dissected by large scale strike-slip shear zones so that the original extent of the complex is unknown. The Windimurra Igneous Complex is part of a much larger suite of similarly layered ultramafic to mafic bodies emplaced between 2,700-2,800Ma across the Murchison Province. Collectively, these complexes are similar in thickness, volume, and composition to the Bushveld Igneous Complex of South Africa.

The project is predominately underlain by the lower zone of the Windimurra Intrusive Complex, a series of olivine-rich gabbro and gabbronorite which grade upwards into more leucocratic gabbroic rocks. The Lower zone is separated into a western and eastern lobe by the Shephards Discordant Zone ("SDZ"), which represents a significant break in the igneous stratigraphy and is characterised by magnetite and magnetite-bearing gabbro. To the east of the SDZ lies a package of mafic volcanic rocks, felsic volcaniclastic sandstones, and banded iron-formation bounded by the Wyemandoo Shear Zone and are part of the Norie Group.

Historic exploration completed by Aldoro has consisted of satellite imagery interpretation, geochemical sampling, rock chip sampling and an initial phase of drilling. Due to the high degree of outcrop exposure and lack of vegetation, satellite imagery interpretation provides a rapid low-cost evaluation method to initially review and target pegmatite swarms. A satellite imagery-based interpretation was conducted by HMAN across the entirety of the Canegrass Lithium Project and revealed extensive swarms of what is being interpreted as pegmatites. These interpreted pegmatites are located within the same lithologies and setting as that at Aldoro's Project. Furthermore, rock chip sampling conducted by Aldoro has confirmed the presence of high-grade rubidium with associated lithium mineralisation 1,400 m to the east of the Canegrass Lithium Project.

Transaction Details:

Corcel has signed an exclusive 30-day option to acquire the lithium rights at the Canegrass Lithium Project, which are overlaid on tenements associated with the Canegrass Nickel Project (rights to which are not included in this transaction), and has agreed to pay the vendor during this period a non-refundable option payment of £20,000. Corcel has commenced due diligence on the project and intends to complete this during the 30-day option period.

In the event that Corcel chooses to exercise the option to proceed to acquire the lithium rights at the project, the Company will issue HMAN 50,000,000 new ordinary shares ("Acquisition Shares") at a deemed issue price of 0.4p equating to £200,000 in aggregate. This represents a 34% premium on the closing price on 21 February 2023 and is also the entry price of the new cornerstone investor as announced on 21 December 2022. 

Qualified Persons Statement:

The information in this announcement that relates to the Exploration Results for the Canegrass Lithium Project is based on information compiled and fairly represented by Mr Robert Jewson, who is a Member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists. Mr Jewson has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the activity which he has undertaken, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Joint Ore Reserves Committee (JORC) Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. Mr Jewson consents to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.

For further information, please contact:

Scott Kaintz Corcel Plc CEO

020 7747 9960  

James Joyce / James Bavister /Andrew de Andrade WH Ireland Ltd NOMAD & Broker

0207 220 1666

Patrick d'Ancona   Vigo Communications IR

0207 3900 230

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 which is part of UK law by virtue of the European Union (withdrawal) Act 2018. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.