Lithium West
The Lithium West JV project was signed in October 2023 with Nigerian company Jurassic Mines Ltd.
The project will be run via Orosur’s 100% UK subsidiary, Lithium West Ltd.
Despite little large scale mining history, Nigeria is seeing the benefits of several years of major government investment in regional geoscience mapping and exploration programs, designed specifically to demonstrate the country’s mineral potential and to attract foreign investment.
Geologically, the lithium potential of Nigeria is very similar to that of eastern Brazil’s “Lithium Valley”, unsurprising given the two land masses were once joined together before the opening of the Atlantic.
Tenure
The Lithium West project will initially consist of four exploration licences, totalling approximately 323km2.
| Licence | Status | Area(Ha) |
|---|---|---|
| EL 43296-001 | Granted | 3,527 |
| EL 43593-001 | Granted | 6,430 |
| EL 43111-001 | Granted | 11,618 |
| EL 43113-001 | Granted | 10,750 |
| 32,325 |
Unlike our other projects that to a large extent of a contiguous block of licences, our licences in Nigeria are widely spaced in order as we have attempted to gain a position on several of the main SSW-NNE regional structures to not only increase the chances of exploration success but also to establish a foothold in several different exploration and mining hubs so that we have the option of future consolidation.
The licences are spread across three Nigerian states – Kwara, Niger and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)
JV Details
The general terms of the agreement allow for Orosur (Lithium West Ltd) to earn a 70% stake in the project by investing US$5m over 5 years, in two phases.
- In Phase 1, the Company may earn 51% interest by investing US$3m over a maximum of three years.
- In Phase 2, the Company may earn an additional 19% interest (for a total of 70%) by investing an additional US$2m over two years.
Geology and Work Plans
Nigeria has rare-element pegmatites widely dispersed across large areas of crystalline basement associated with late orogenic Pan-African events and younger associations with the post -tectonic emplacement of the Younger Granites during the Jurassic in the Eastern Nigerian Shield.
The rare earth element pegmatites of interest are associated with the late Pan-African events and occur primarily within the Western Nigerian Shield.
The distribution of rare-earth element pegmatites covers most of the Western Nigerian Shield and occur within meta-volcanosedimentary units of the Schist Belts with lesser occurrences hosted within gneissic and granitic associations.
LCT pegmatites seem to be controlled by later sinistral reactivation of older SSW-NNE regional structures that resulted in partial remelting of older granites and gneisses as well creating the dilutional sites and ingress pathways for pegmatite emplacement.
On a regional scale, lithium pegmatites also seem to be associated with higher metamorphic grades (mid greenschist facies to lower amphibolite facies). The Pan African metamorphic grade across western Nigeria increases from Lower to middle greenschist facies in the north to middle to lower amphibolite facies in the south, representative of different exhumation rates with deeper crustal rocks being exposed in the southern regions. As such the southern domain of western Nigeria would seem to offer greater prospectivity.
