Rio Tinto hails another step closer to develop Serbian lithium mine
If developed, the $2.4 billion Jadar lithium project in Western Serbia could cover 90% of Europe's current lithium needs.
Bluejay Mining (LON: JAY) has agreed to sell its Paltamo and Rautavaara nickel, zinc, copper and cobalt projects in Finland to Metals One for £4 million ($5.6m) in cash and shares.
The explorer and developer is not fully walking away from the assets, as the deal makes it a significant shareholder in Metals One, a battery metals miner.
Bluejay is also keeping its Outokumpu copper gold cobalt project and it will continue exploring around the historical Hammaslahti copper mine in Finland.
“The Paltamo and Rautavaara projects have the potential to replicate the giant adjacent Talvivaara nickel-zinc-copper-cobalt mine,” Bluejay chief executive Bo Møller Stensgaard said in the statement.
The explorer and developer is not fully walking away from the assets, as the deal makes it a significant shareholder in Metals One
As the demand for nickel for electric vehicle batteries is expected to increase ten-fold by 2030 from 2019 levels, concerns around the environmentally-conscious supply of the metal are also on the rise.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) boss Elon Musk is trying to mitigate that impact with a jump in nickel mining by offering a “giant contract for a long period of time” to any firm able to extract it in an efficient, environmentally sustainable manner.
Top miners have aggressively been acquiring nickel projects over the last year, with Canada’s Noront Resources (TSX-V: NOT) currently at the centre of a bidding war between BHP (ASX, LON, NYSE: BHP) and Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals.
Last week, BHP sealed a nickel supply deal with Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), and said it is considering a retreat from fossil fuels.
Bluejay’s flagship asset is the Dundas ilmenite project on the northwest coast of Greenland, 80 km north of the town of Qaanaaq.
After obtaining the exploitation permit in December, the junior has focused on securing financing ahead of commencing commercial production.
The permit, valid for an initial 30-year period, allows Bluejay to produce 440,000 tonnes of ilmenite annually over an initial mine life of 11 years. The mineral is considered the most important ore of titanium, used commercially in the production of paint, adhesives and personal care products such as toothpaste.
