Germany: Zinnwald Lithium plc, a German-focused Lithium development firm, have announced the signing of a Heads of Terms Agreement (HOT) with Ocean Partners UK Ltd. The agreement will see the company acquire Erris Zinc Ltd, their fully owned subsidiary that owns the Abbeytown zinc license in Ireland. Ocean Partners UK Ltd is a trader of base metal ores and concentrates and is also the parent company to Shanoon Resources Ltd, the owners of the Galmoy Prospecting Licence in Ireland. This acquisition marks an important milestone for Zinnwald Lithium plc and sets them on track to extend their reach into Ireland.
It is expected that the Company and Ocean will be entering into a legally binding agreement reflecting the terms of the Heads of Terms within a month. This agreement must be approved by the Irish Geoscience Regulation Office for it to take effect.
Zinnwald Lithium CEO, Anton du Plessis, stated: “We are pleased to have found a partner to develop Abbeytown whilst we focus on advancing our Zinnwald Lithium Project towards the planned completion of a Bankable Feasibility Study at the end of 2023 and commencement of production in 4Q26. As the core asset that underpinned our original listing on AIM in 2017, our 2018/19 exploration work identified excellent mineralisation at Abbeytown in the original drill holes, while the metallurgical review showed that a good quality concentrate could be produced. We look forward to Ocean taking the exploration further and, hopefully in the longer term, into production.”
Shanoon Resources MD, Alan Buckley, stated: “We are delighted that through Ocean we have been able to secure the rights to this highly prospective licence with high priority drilling targets identified.”
Erris Zinc Ltd, a subsidiary of Zinnwald, was originally granted the Abbeytown License in Ireland (PL 3735) in 2013 for six years. In 3Q19, Erris Zinc Ltd extended the licence for an additional six years. With their acquisition of Deutsche Lithium GmbH and its Zinnwald Lithium Project in 2021, the Group decided to put their Irish operations on care and maintenance while searching for a joint venture partner to take the asset forward. They also undertook further exploration work that year to keep the licence active. The carrying value of this asset was fully impaired in their 2021 accounts.
