How is Tempest Minerals Limited (ASX:TEM) placed on the lithium front?

Highlights

• Tempest maintains a strong and de-risked position in Lithium across Australia and overseas.
• Tempest’s holding includes Western Australian exploration projects and holdings in hard rock lithium assets in Africa and lithium brine in the USA.
• Additionally, the company also holds a significant stake in London-listed Premier African Minerals, which holds significant lithium projects and opportunities at US Lithium Brine Projects.
• TEM shares traded ~9.52% up at AU$0.023 a share on 3 November at 1:32 PM AEST.
• Prices of the battery-grade lithium carbonate have roughly quadrupled to trade in record high ranges.

Australia-based diversified mineral exploration company Tempest Minerals Limited (ASX:TEM) shared an update on the company’s lithium portfolio which the company continues to build up since 2017.

Tempest maintains a strong and de-risked position in Lithium across Australia and overseas through its Western Australian exploration projects and holdings in hard rock lithium assets in Africa and lithium brine in the USA.

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TEM shares traded ~9.52% up at AU$0.023 a share on 3 November at 1:32 PM AEST with a market capitalisation of AU$8.35 million. Exploring and developing substantial lithium projects goes a long way in the current era when lithium prices have been shooting up after an incredible growth in electric vehicles sales. As per the Australia resources and energy quarterly September 2021 edition, global electric vehicle sales are anticipated to increase to over 30 million units a year from the current level of 3 million units.

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Prices of battery-grade lithium carbonate have roughly quadrupled to trade in record high ranges. Tempest’s significant exposure to both hard rock and brine lithium projects may provide the company a significant edge over others. Lithium prices are anticipated to continue their rally in upcoming years on the back of surging demand.

Yilgarn Lithium Project

Tempest is progressing on 3 lithium prospective project areas stretching over 108km2 in the prolific Yilgarn craton of Western Australia. Some of the target areas are -

• Rocky Hill – The Rock Hill prospect stretches over 29km², just 100km from Perth. The prospect is considered highly prospective for lithium, HPA and magnesium.
• Carraning - The tenement application stretches over 35km², just 40km from Norseman. The prospect is considered highly prospective for lithium and gold.
• Windarling - The tenement application stretches over 41km² and is located within 25km of world-class mining operations, including Ramelius Resources Limited’s (ASX:RMS) Marda/Python gold and Mineral Resources Limited’s (ASX:MIN) Windarling iron ore assets. The prospect hosts Known pegmatite occurrences prospective for lithium in the sought-after Youanmi Terrane BIF and greenstone belt.

Tempest plans to undertake Reconnaissance mapping, a UAV (drone) survey and a targeting study at the Rocky Hill prospect.

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Alongside WA assets, Tempest also holds significant exposure to the burgeoning East African lithium phenomenon via its equity interests in Premier African Minerals Ltd (AIM: PREM), which operates numerous mineral projects across Africa, including exceptional Zimbabwe and Mozambique lithium projects.

Zimbabwe lithium projects - Zimbabwe lithium projects include over 1500 hectares area in the fecund Mutare Greenstone Belt. The region had been mined in the past to produce multiple commodities, including gold, beryl and tantalite. Recently, the project has been identified to possess significant LCT Pegmatites with lithium occurrences and has emerged as a lithium exploration hotspot.

Mozambique lithium projects - Mozambique lithium projects cover more than 100 hectares of the Alto Ligonha province, which was previously exploited for rare earths and was the world’s second-biggest beryl producer during the 1960s. The province has multiple known pegmatite-hosted lithium mineralisations.

Premier African Minerals

Earlier in June 2020, Tempest entered into an agreement to liquidate its 100% stake in East African Lithium Projects to London-listed Premier African Minerals (Premier). Currently, Tempest retains a significant stake in Premier African with over ~74.5 million shares under its holding. Tempest enjoys a healthy premium over the original deal price on the back of ongoing developments in the Premier portfolio.

US Lithium Brine Projects

The Tonopah Lithium Project (TLP) is situated in the world-class mining jurisdiction of Clayton Valley in the United States of America.  The project is just ~4km from Albemarle’s Silver Peak lithium brine operation and shares similar geology with geophysical and geological studies showing a strong prospectivity for similar brines.

US lithium brine projects are located strategically at the centre of the US EV ecosystem and are just 300km from the Tesla Gigafactory.

Tempest holds a strong de-risked exposure at the US project with a further milestone payment of AU$250,000 payable upon the announcement of JORC Code-compliant Ore Reserve of at least one million tonnes of lithium carbonate-equivalent product or the commencement of commercial production of the project.