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TORONTO, July 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arena Minerals Inc. ("Arena" or the "Company") (TSX-V: AN) announces a non-brokered private placement of subscription receipts (the "Subscription Receipts") at a price of $0.14 per Subscription Receipt for gross proceeds of up to $10,000,000 (the "Offering"). The proceeds of the Offering will be applied to the acquisition of the Sal de la Puna lithium brine project from Centaur Resources Pty Ltd., described in the Company's news releases of May 25, 2021 and June 10, 2021 (the "Centaur Acquisition"). Amounts not required to complete the Centaur Acquisition will be used by Arena for exploration and development expenditures on the Company's lithium assets and for general corporate purposes.
Lithium Americas Corp. ("Lithium Americas” or “LAC”) will be acquiring $6 million of Subscription Receipts in the Offering. Under LAC’s subscription agreement with Arena, and provided it holds at least 7.5% of Arena's common shares, LAC has been granted the right (i) to participate in future Arena financings to maintain its percentage ownership interest in Arena; and (ii) to appoint a nominee to the Arena board of directors as long as it holds at least 10% of Arena's common shares.
Ganfeng Lithium Co., Ltd ("Ganfeng Lithium") holds a contractual right to participate in the Offering to maintain its percentage ownership interest in Arena under the Subscription agreement dated February 3, 2021.
Upon successful closing of the Company’s share purchase agreement with Centaur Resources Pty Ltd. (the "Release Condition"), the Subscription Receipts will be exchanged without payment of additional consideration for units of the Company (each a "Unit"). Each Unit shall consist of one common share of the Company (a "Common Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder to acquire one Common Share of the Company at $0.25 for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. If the Release Condition is not met by August 15, 2021, the proceeds of the Offering will be returned to the subscribers without interest or deduction.
Will Randall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Arena, commented: “Thanks to the support shown by Ganfeng Lithium, and today’s equity investment by Lithium Americas, I am pleased to confirm that upon closing of this offering, Arena will be fully funded to close the transformative acquisition of the Sal de la Puna Project in Salta, Argentina. Indeed, this financing provides the Company with sufficient working capital to advance our lithium projects towards our ultimate goal of becoming a low-cost supplier to the lithium carbonate industry.”
The Sal de la Puna Project
The Sal de la Puna Project covers approximately 11,000 hectares of the Pastos Grandes basin located in the Puna region of Salta province at an average elevation of 4,000 metres above sea level. The project hosts a large portion of the Pastos Grandes salar adjacent and south of Millennial Lithium’s 12,700-hectare Pastos Grandes project and Litica’s Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes project which shares the northern portion of the same salar. Litica is a subsidiary of Latin American leading oil and gas producers PlusPetrol S.A., who acquired LSC Lithium in 2019 giving them ownership of their lithium assets in Argentina. The Sal de la Puna project is also located 50 km north of Lithium X Energy Corp.’s project, which was sold for $265 million in 2018, where Mr. Morales, Executive Chairman, and Mr. Randall, President and CEO, were senior executives.
Approximately $22 million has been invested in the property by the current private operators/owners, including approximately $13 million in work completed at Sal de la Puna over the last five years. Work included drilling of three wells, including a pumping well to approximately 600 metres below surface, pumping tests, seismic and TEM geophysical surveys. The drilling was carried out on a portion of the Alma Fuerte, one of the nine 100% owned claims.
The technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by William Randall, P.Geo, who is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101. As President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Mr. Randall is not considered independent.
About Lithium Americas Corp.
Lithium Americas is advancing to production the Caucharí-Olaroz lithium brine project in partnership with Ganfeng in Argentina and developing the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada, USA. Lithium Americas is a Canadian-based company listed on both the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) and New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the ticker symbol “LAC”, with a market capitalisation of more than $2 billion.
About Ganfeng Lithium Co.
Ganfeng Lithium (1772.HK; OTCQX: GNENF), is one of the world’s leading lithium manufacturers and is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (Ticker 1772.HK) since 2018 when it raised US$ 440 million in an IPO. Ganfeng Lithium is a top three lithium compound producer, and the largest producer of lithium metal globally. Ganfeng has a strong presence in Argentina, including a 46.7% ownership in Minera Exar which operates the Caucharí-Olaroz project in Jujuy province.
About Arena Minerals Inc.
Arena owns the Antofalla lithium brine project in Argentina, consisting of four claims covering a total of 6,000 hectares of the central portion of Salar de Antofalla, located immediately south of Albemarle Corporation's Antofalla project. Arena has developed a proprietary brine processing technology using brine type reagents derived from the Antofalla project with the objective of producing more competitive battery grade lithium products.
Arena also owns 80 percent of the Atacama Copper property covering approximately 5,000 hectares within the Antofagasta region of Chile. The project is at low altitudes, within producing mining camps in infrastructure-rich areas, located in the heart of Chile's premier copper mining district. Arena holds 5.82 million shares of Astra Exploration Ltd as a result of the sale of its 80% interest in the Pampa Paciencia epithermal gold property, also located in northern Chile, to Astra Exploration Ltd.
To view our website, please visit www.arenaminerals.com. In addition to featuring information regarding the Company, its management, and projects, the site also contains the latest corporate news, a long form text explaining the unique business model of the Company (under the tab "the Company Explained") and an email registration allowing subscribers to receive news and updates directly.
For more information, contact William Randall, President and CEO, at +1-416-818-8711 or Simon Marcotte, Vice-President Corporate Development, at +1-647-801-7273 or smarcotte@arenaminerals.com.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of: Arena Minerals Inc.
William Randall, President and CEO
Cautionary Note Regarding Accuracy and Forward-Looking Information
This news release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements, projections and estimates relating to the future development of any of the Company's properties, the anticipating timing with respect to private placement financings, the ability of the Company to complete private placement financings, results of the exploration program, future financial or operating performance of the Company, its subsidiaries and its projects, the development of and the anticipated timing with respect to the Atacama project in Chile, the Antofalla, Hombre Muertos or Posits Projects in Argentina, and the Company's ability to obtain financing. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". The statements made herein are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially because of factors discussed in the management discussion and analysis section of the Company's interim and most recent annual financial statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Estimates underlying the results set out in this news release arise from work conducted by the previous owners and the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration activities; other risks of the mining industry and the risks described in the annual information form of the Company. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Arena Minerals does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.