Western Australia’s Minister for Mines, Petroleum and Exploration has granted Global Lithium Resources’ (ASX:GL1) flagship project Manna lithium project mining lease M28/414.
In a Monday (August 25) release, Global Lithium said that the mining lease covers a term of 21 years pursuant to the Mining Act 1978.
“The granting of this mining lease is a transformative moment for (us) and (our) shareholders,” commented Managing Director Dr. Dianmin Chen. “This achievement, coming so soon after the successful native title mining agreement, validates our focused strategy and the diligent work of our team and partners.”
Global Lithium announced its signing of a native title agreement with the Kakarra Part B Native Title Group on August 13, underscoring its dedication to responsible mining and its commitment to ensuring and delivering benefits to the community concerning Manna.
Located in Eastern Goldfields and just 100 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie, Manna currently contains a mineral resource of 51.6 million tonnes at 1.0 percent lithium oxide.
The company said that it remains the third largest lithium resource in its region and holds potential to become a significant spodumene concentrate producer.
In its Diggers and Dealers presentation published August 1, it was specified that Manna is currently focusing on minimising production and operational costs by refining the processing flowsheet, optimizing capital expenditure through strategic design and procurement and enhancing mine design and scheduling.
Global Lithium also highlighted that it is leveraging advanced technologies and detailed process analysis.
In addition, the mining lease also “significantly de-risks” the project and assists in its steps towards a final investment decision (FID).
Following the agreement signing and the mining lease grant, the company said that it is now fully focused on finalising an optimised definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Manna.
“The DFS remains on track for the end of the 2025 calendar year… We are also pursuing discussions with potential development partners.”
Should the company follow its projected schedule and secure pending approvals, Manna is expected to be shovel-ready between 2026 to 2027.
Shares of Global Lithium went up 10 percent on the day of the mining lease announcement compared to its previous close of AU$0.20 on Friday (August 22), closing at AU$0.22 on Monday.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Gabrielle de la Cruz, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
