Pantera Minerals Limited has welcomed a major development from Energy Exploration Technologies Inc., in which Pantera holds a strategic 2.34 million share investment, after EnergyX signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Compass Minerals Inc. to advance a proposed commercial-scale Direct Lithium Extraction and refinery facility in Utah.
The proposed Project Powder Hound™ facility would be located on Compass Minerals-owned land near the Great Salt Lake and would become EnergyX’s second flagship U.S. lithium project, alongside its Smackover Formation operations in Texas and Arkansas.
Under the indicative terms announced by EnergyX, EnergyX would design, fund, construct and operate the proposed facility, while leasing land and infrastructure from Compass Minerals and paying a lithium production licence fee. Compass Minerals would not incur capital costs in connection with the project.
The project is proposed to be powered by EnergyX’s proprietary GET-Lit™ Direct Lithium Extraction technology.
For Pantera, the announcement expands the underlying project portfolio linked to its strategic EnergyX shareholding, providing indirect exposure to EnergyX’s growing U.S. lithium platform.
Pantera’s 2.34 million share interest in EnergyX is currently estimated to have an indicative carrying value of approximately A$ 42 million, based on EnergyX’s most recent priced capital raising.
Pantera Chairman & CEO Barnaby Egerton-Warburton commented:
“The Announcement by EnergyX is a significant step in the evolution of the company in which Pantera holds a strategic interest. Project Powder Hound™ – alongside a Tier-1 counterparty in Compass Minerals - expands the underlying U.S. lithium platform supporting our holding and reinforces the rationale for the position Pantera took in EnergyX. We will continue to keep shareholders informed of material developments.”