• Market Watch

Andrada partners with largest lithium miner

• 2 Months Ago - 2024-09-12 00:00:00

Andrada Mining says it is confident that a recent deal signed with Chilean rare-earths developer Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (SQM) will help it unlock the value of its lithium assets and set it on course to become a major player in that space.
It follows an earn-in agreement signed with SQM to better develop its lithium assets.
Speaking to the financial website, The London South East, Andrada Mining CEO Andre Viljoen said the farm-in agreement signed was a good thing for his company, and described it as the biggest deal it had made to date.
“It is probably our biggest deal to date, you know, getting a world class partner like SQM on board, to work together and alongside our team to develop what we believe is a world-class asset is really a strong backing for the company, not only from a financial point of view, but also from a technical point of view,” Viljoen said.

Anchor
The deal entered into with SQM would help anchor the company’s growth going forward, Viljoen said.
“This lays the platform to what we keep maintaining is a growth and expansion base for the company and a very exciting agreement all round,” he said.
The deal entered into with SQM also demonstrated the work Andrada had carried out unearthing value in its assets.
“This asset was sitting on a balance sheet of US$2 million (N$35 million), and this deal values the asset quite substantially, so it does show that there is a lot of value in the work we do,” Viljoen said.
“It has taken a little long in some instances, but we are at the cusp of that exponential growth curve that we keep talking about and establish ourselves as a mid-tier critical resources producer,” he added.

Fast-track
SQM’s partnership would also help accelerate the development of lithium and other rare earth metals in Namibia, Viljoen said.
“This will massively accelerate our lithium development strategy and the depth of knowledge that SQM brings. They are one of the biggest lithium producers globally and it will help accelerate and unlock the lithium value a lot quicker. This lays the platform for an expansion of the development of the lithium and critical raw materials potential in Namibia,” Viljoen said.
SQM is the world’s biggest lithium producer currently and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.