Bradda Head Lithium (BHL) - New US Based Lithium Developer Aiming High

Bradda Head Lithium is a lithium exploration and development company listed in both the USA and the UK. The company has assets in Arizona and Nevada and is in the unique position of having three types of lithium mineral deposits, the deposits being clay, brine, and Pegmatite.

Matthew Gordon spoke to Charles FitzRoy, CEO of Bradda Head Lithium (AIM: BHL) to discuss the company’s recent IPO and plans for the year. 

Company Overview

The company was listed on the AIM stock exchange in July 2021 as Bradda Head Holdings Ltd. where it raised £6.2 million with its IPO. The share price of the company has increased by 147% since its 2021 IPO. The company changed its name to Bradda Head Lithium Ltd. in September 2021, and concluded with royalty funding at the end of 2021, ending the year with USD$ 9.9 million in its treasury.

The company believes that it has laid the correct foundation in 2021 to be able to execute its 2022 plans effectively, with its current drill program progressing much faster than previous campaigns according to the company. The drill campaign is implementing sonic drilling which is more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.

Bradda Head Lithium came to fruition after being known initially as Copper Development Corporation, which was founded in 2009. Copper Development Corporation was planned to engage in the exploration, development, and processing of various minerals as well as oil and raised USD$ 63 million at its listing on the AIM stock exchange in 2010.

Copper Development Corporation disposed of its remaining mining interests in 2015 and announced after a general meeting that it was rebranding to Life Science Developments Ltd., which was focused on investing in or acquiring biotechnology and life sciences companies, the company was delisted from the AIM stock exchange in 2017.

In January 2018, Bradda Head Limited, at that stage a wholly-owned subsidiary executed a share purchase agreement and was renamed Bradda Head Holdings Limited. The company terminated its joint venture with  Zenith Minerals Ltd. in February 2021 and retained control of all the lithium projects in the company’s portfolio.

The steering of such a dynamic company requires a dynamic and strong management team.

Company management

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bradda Head Lithium Ltd. is Charles FitzRoy. Charlie served in the British Army for five years, an experience which furnished him with considerable management expertise. Charles was recently part of the corporate development and strategy team of China Molybdenum (CMOC), playing a part in the execution of two USD$ 550 million deals. Charles has experience in mergers and acquisitions, equity research and strategy in the mining sector. He holds degrees in both geology and, metals and energy finance and is also a fellow of the geological society and a professional member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Ian Stalker is Chairman with over 46 years of hands-on experience in resource development. Ian has  directed over 12 major mining projects, from  initial exploration to start-up, including  gold, base metal, uranium and industrial minerals.  Ian has grown multiple companies and has focussed on returning value to shareholders throughout his career, including: CEO K92 Mining, President & CEO LSC Lithium Corp, CEO & Chairman PLU, CEO UraMin (Peru based lithium & uranium 2005 to 2007 when it was sold to Areva for $2.5bn), and VP Goldfields (4th largest gold producer at that time).

Jim Guilinger serves as Chief Operating Officer (COO) and boasts more than 40 years of experience in the mining sector. Guilinger’s experience includes positions as director of exploration at Eldorado Gold Corporation and he has managed numerous precious, base and industrial mineral projects.

Denham Eke fills the role of Financial Director and company secretary. Eke started his career as a stockbroker from where he moved into corporate planning at a major UK insurance broker. He has served as director for various publicly and privately traded companies in the mining, manufacturing and financial sectors.

Adam Hawkins serves as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) officer and is tasked to develop and sustain the ESG components of the company’s operations from early-stage exploration through to closure. Hawkins was president of the board of the American exploration and mining association until 2020.

The technical aspects of the company are held in the hands of Don Hains and Dr Yatendra Sharma. Hains serves as technical consultant with Dr Sharma serving as Lithium Processing Consultant. Hains has over 35 years of experience in the minerals markets and economics. Dr Sharma holds 16 battery patents, several publications in international journals, is a competent person as defined in the 2004 JORC Code and has more than 47 years of experience in production, R&D, and project management of various mineral projects at various multinational companies.

James Mellon, Euan Jenkins, and Alex Borelli complete the management team as non-executive director and independent non-executive directors respectively.

The esteemed management team is tasked with the company’s various lithium projects comprising all three recognised lithium deposit types, namely lithium clays, brine and pegmatite.

Lithium clay deposits

Bradda Head Lithium has three lithium clay deposits, namely its Basin East, Basin West and Wikieup projects.  

The Basin East project is located in central-western Arizona in the USA, 10 km away from the Bagdad Copper Mine. The project has access to various necessary infrastructure including power lines and natural gas pipelines.  The project has a total area of 3.78 km2  and boasts lithium grades of between 465 ppm and 3,577 ppm. The preliminary leaching tests show a recovery potential of 90%. A total of 19 of 154 permitted exploration holes have been drilled with its 2018 maiden resource estimate equalling 185,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent averaging 818 ppm of lithium.

The Basin West project is located 5 km west of Basin East and covers an area of 6.02 km2. The project has seen 79 samples collected in total with grades ranging from 36 ppm to 1,310 ppm lithium.

The Wikieup project lies halfway between Phoenix and Las Vegas in Arizona and is 22 km and 18 km away from the Basin East and West projects. A total of 156 samples have been collected at the property and show lithium grades between 642.2 ppm and 814 ppm. Twenty-eight drill holes have been permitted to test for the Li clay potential of the property. To date 18 holes have been completed.

Lithium Brine deposits

The Lithium brine projects of the company are the Wilson Salt Flat and Eureka projects.

The Wilson Salt Flat is located in Nye County, Nevada. The project is easily accessible by road and lies 310 miles southeast of the Tesla Gigafactory, a large consumer of Lithium Carbonate. The auger/post hole sampling showed lithium grades of 33 ppm to 192 ppm of lithium at the surface (1 m – 2m hole). Two holes approximately 300 m deep each have been permitted to test for the deep Li brine potential of the property.

The Eureka project of the company is located in Lander County Nevada and lies 160 miles east of the Tesla Gigafactory with the nearest town being Austin 16 miles away. The auger/post hole sampling showed lithium grades of 41 ppm to 550 ppm of lithium at the surface (1 m – 2m hole).  A 26 hole drilling program to test the Li clay potential is currently being permitted.

Lithium hard rock (Pegmatite) deposits

The San Domingo lithium Pegmatite project is located in Maricopa and Yavapai counties Arizona. The project has an area of 13.5 km2 with initial mapping showing 10 lithium-bearing pegmatite dikes. The deposits are up to 60 m in width and 600 m in length.

The project boasts lithium-bearing materials at the surface, with rock chip sampling showing 5 m of 1.97% Li2O and 3 m at 1.44% Li2O. The project has seen certain grab samples up to 8.0% of Li2O and systematic composite rock chip sampling with grades of 0.86% Li2O at 2.9 m, 0.69% Li2O  at 2.8 m and 0.56% Li2O at 3 m. The company is currently underway with establishing its permitting for the project and has submitted a notice of intent for exploration activities to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the drilling of 30 core holes.

2022 Market plans and material catalysts.

Bradda Head Lithium believes that the US is missing a critical domestic supply of raw materials for a low carbon footprint battery industry. The majority of the world’s lithium originates in Australia and South America from where it is transported to China and then distributed throughout the world. The company aims to develop its lithium projects with a low carbon footprint by being based near its end users. The company believes that it is strategically located to create a US supply chain and meet the US lithium market needs. Bradda Head Lithium sees large upswing potential to its share price in the future and believes that once its resources have been proven through its planned drilling campaigns, it will experience a large value increase.

The company has various material catalysts planned for 2022. The first quarter of the year will see the geophysical results at the Eureka project and the resource update of the Basin East project through a 10-hole diamond drilling program. The company envisions an 80-hole drilling program at a later stage to convert the inferred mineral resource to a measured and indicated resource.

The second quarter of the year will see the Maiden resource estimate at the Wikieup project, following the granting of the required drilling permits. A 30-hole drill program is planned and depending on the drill program results further metallurgical test work may then follow.

The second quarter of 2022 will also include the launching of an exploration drilling campaign at the San Domingo project, aimed at supplying additional surface mapping and sampling. Drillhole targeting implementing 3-D modelling and follow up drilling and metallurgical sampling are also planned.

The company plans to end the year, pending permitting, with the exploration of its Basin West, Basin West Extension, and Wikieup South projects. The Eureka and Wilson H2 projects are also planned to undergo exploration drilling at the end of the year.

Should the company be able to execute its plans it may be poised to deliver on its goal of creating a US lithium supply chain and meeting the US lithium market needs.

To find out more, go to the Bradda Head Lithium website