Hipo Resources has signed a joint venture agreement to get 60% stake in Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Kamola lithium project. Under the terms of the agreement with Crown Mining, Hipo will sole-fund US $5m. This will go towards exploration and project development expenditure within a three-year period to maintain its JV interest.
According to media reports, exploration activities to the tune of US $1m will be undertaken within the first 12 months of the JV. Moreover, Hipo will reportedly advance funding on a loan account basis, with Crown finance carried through to a definitive feasibility study stage.
Hipo’s executive chairperson Maurice Feilich said that the transition is a significant development for the company. He further noted that there were exploration results from surrounding projects, which had similar geological characteristics to Kamola. These, he said, gave the company every confidence in the asset.
Meanwhile, follow-up work at Kamola, including detailed mapping, surface geology analysis, sampling and pitting, will reportedly commence early next week. The stakeholders hope to gain a greater understanding of the project’s potential and identify immediate drill targets for early 2019.
