MetalsTech Ltd [ASX:MTC] enters trading halt after announcing lithium move.
MetalsTech has requested a trading halt pending a submission to the ASX regarding a structured spinout of its high-grade lithium assets, located in Quebec, following its ASX announcement today.
MetalsTech plans to make the announcement to the market before trading starts on Monday, 15 March.
Trading volume rocketed to 9.9 million on the news, following trading volume of 264,800 on Wednesday, representing a jump of more than 3,500%.
At the time of writing, the MTC share price is up 41% to sit at 17 cents.
Who is MetalsTech?
MTC listed on the ASX on 24 February 2017. Prior to today’s developments, it considered itself an underground gold mine developer.
Preceding the move into lithium, MTC was developing a brownfield gold mine in Slovakia.
According to the company, its Sturec Underground Gold Mine in Slovakia has produced more than 1.5 million ounces of gold and 6.7 million ounces of silver, worth more than US$2 billion in precious metal value.
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MTC lithium announcement
So, what was in the MetalsTech announcement that sent its share price up?
Here are the key highlights.
MTC said it is assessing a commercialisation strategy to advance its high-grade lithium assets in Quebec, ‘enabling it to focus on developing its world class Sturec Gold Mine.’
The company’s release noted a recent ‘spodumene supply shortage’, which, according to MTC, is expected to increase ‘exponentially’ over the next few years.
MTC also highlighted a ‘strong demand for future North American and European lithium chemicals converters.’
The company’s focus will be on extracting value from its lithium assets.
One of these assets includes the Cancet Lithium Project, which, according to MTC, contains ‘excellent indicative metallurgy meeting or exceeding grade requirements for the battery market.’
MTC has set an independent JORC exploration target of ‘15-25Mt @ 1-2% Li2O + 100-250ppm Ta2O5’ at its 100%-owned Cancet Lithium Project.
To capitalise on these developments, MTC announced the appointment of Chris Evans as an executive of its lithium operations on a consultancy basis initially.
According to the release, Mr Evans previously oversaw the operation of the Pilgangoora lithium mine and processing facility, recently acquired by Pilbara Minerals Ltd [ASX:PLS].
What now for MTC share price?
Commenting on the outlook for the company, MetalsTech chairman Russell Moran stated:
‘We are firmly focused on growing our one million ounce plus resource at our world class Sturec gold mine and we firmly believe in the strong outlook for gold.
‘We are also very fortunate to own a portfolio of very prospective hard rock lithium assets.
‘Market sentiment towards lithium has surged and we are positioning our company to take advantage of this renewed interest.’
Lithium stocks have enjoyed a good moment recently, and today’s lithium announcement from MTC piqued the interest of those investors hungry for further lithium investment opportunities.
As we’ve covered this week, today’s news from MTC follows positive news releases from Lithium Australia NL [ASX:LIT] and Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd [ASX:VUL].
MTC’s expansion into a growing lithium market can present great opportunities, but it is not without risk.
The market is attracting a lot of entrants and competition is heating up.
With MTC developing its Slovakia gold mine, and now also shifting some of its energy to lithium, investors will be looking to see how well the company can manage and monetise its gold and lithium projects.
If you’re interested in finding out more about lithium stock investment opportunities, then do make sure to check out this free report. It reveals three stocks that could surge on the back of renewed demand for lithium in 2021. It is free to download right now.
Regards,
Lachlann Tierney,
For Money Morning
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