![](https://www.ai-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/SunMirror-AG-Agrees-to-Acquire-Latitude-66-Cobalt-Oy-With-Its-Advanced-Battery-Metals-Portfolio-to-Strengthen-Its-Position-as-Europes-Green-Metals-Company.png)
SunMirror AG (“SunMirror”; XETRA Vienna: ROR1; ISIN CH0396131929), a
exploration company specialising in mineral resources such as gold, lithium,
cobalt and other metals and minerals powering future industries, continues
to successfully pursue its expansion strategy during the Covid 19 pandemic.
The Company has today announced that it has, via its wholly owned
subsidiary, SunMirror Luxembourg S.A. (“SM S.A.”), agreed to acquire Finnish
cobalt company Latitude 66 Cobalt Oy (“Latitude 66”) with focus on
exploration and mine development with its business operations located in
Finland.
Founded 4 years ago, Latitude 66 is one of the leading explorers of cobalt
in Europe and controls the largest exploration tenement package of any
single company in Finland, currently in excess of 9,000 square kilometres.
Latitude 66’s most advanced mine development project is the fourth largest
known cobalt deposit in the European Union (“EU”) and the second largest not
yet in production. In addition, Latitude 66 has an extensive exploration
portfolio with over 100 targets identified for further exploration.
The expected purchase price payable to the Parent will be EUR 45 million,
payable in cash on closing, and SM S.A. has agreed to a 2% net smelter
royalty on future production. The Board of Directors of SunMirror and the
Board of Directors of Latitude 66’s parent company Latitude 66 Cobalt
Limited (“Parent”) have already approved the sale of Latitude 66 to SM S.A.
The conditional binding agreement in respect of the acquisition of Latitude
66 contains an alternative completion structure which, subject to
satisfaction of certain conditions, provides SM S.A. with the ability to
propose a takeover offer of the Parent in accordance with applicable
Australian corporations laws. The completion of the acquisition of Latitude
66, or a takeover bid if one is subsequently announced by SM S.A., is
subject to completion by SunMirror of a capital raising of EUR 70 million
and other customary conditions.
Current resource estimate for Latitude 66’s K Camp project according to
Mineral resource classification JORC is 16,490 tonnes cobalt and 725,000 oz
gold contained. The average grade for cobalt is 0.064%, which is the highest
of the five largest known cobalt resources in the EU, and the average gold
grade is 2.7g/t. Finland is the largest refiner of cobalt and nickel in
Europe and the second largest of cobalt in the world after China, which has
a market share of around 80 percent. Furthermore Finland is currently the
only country in the EU with mines producing Cobalt today. A fully European
supply chain for batteries will significantly reduce CO2 and other emissions
in the manufacturing process of electric vehicles and other batteries.
Domestic supply of key battery minerals will significantly reduce strategic
and geopolitical risks for European companies.
SunMirror focuses on exploration and mine developments in areas known for
their high geological potential and where some of the world’s most
productive mines and mineral deposits are located. SunMirror, which has
prospective resource projects in Australia, with the acquisition of Latitude
66 holds a highly prospective portfolio of battery metals projects in the
world’s premier mining jurisdictions. SunMirror is targeting to supply the
European economy with cobalt and other raw materials and metals such as
lithium from sustainable, stable and legally secure sources, while complying
with laws, regulations and ESG requirements.
The EU recently affirmed, as part of the launch of its European Green Deal,
which presents Europe’s new growth strategy and sets out a roadmap for
achieving climate neutrality by 2050, that not having access to critical raw
materials or being overly dependent on individual suppliers would undermine
Europe’s ability to become an industrial leader in new technologies. In
order to achieve the EU’s climate neutrality goal, it is important not to
create a new dependency of these critical raw materials on uncertain third
countries in terms of legal certainty, working conditions and environmental
standards.
Dr. Heinz Rudolf Kubli, Member of the Board of Directors of SunMirror AG,
explains his views about the acquisition’s significance:
“It is more important than ever for European industry to have direct access
to raw materials for future technologies with independent supply chains.
With access to highly attractive cobalt projects in Finland, SunMirror can
meet the EU’s requirements for critical raw materials and contribute raw
material security. Through the acquisition of Latitude 66 SunMirror is
excellently positioned to provide raw materials and is thus a strategic
partner for the digital transition in Europe. Our aim is to provide crucial
raw materials like cobalt for battery tech, which are indispensable for the
implementation of next-gen electro-mobility, and the expansion of renewable
energies. We are differentiated by a transparent, traceable and sustainable
framework. As a raw material supplier, we want to make our contribution to
decarbonising the entire value chain, responsibly – ahead of industry
peers.”
Latitude 66 is a member of the Finnish government project “BATTRACE”. This
initiative is dedicated to the traceability of battery materials and the
production processes used to extract metals from ores and refine them into
high-quality raw materials for battery material manufacturers. SunMirror is
also developing a blockchain technology solution for enhanced traceability.
This will transparently document the source of raw materials and the
conditions of the extraction process in a tamper-proof manner and be made
available to third parties for the calculation of ESG criteria. The
traceability of the raw materials ensures that the extraction of the
materials is ESG-compliant and not at the expense of environmental
standards, labour law and conditions or through illegal overexploitation.
For the avoidance of doubt, this announcement does not constitute an
intention to make a takeover bid for the purposes of section 631 of the
Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
SunMirror has already received commitments for significant capital
injections in the past and considers itself well positioned for further
growth on this basis. In addition, further investors have recently expressed
their interest to SunMirror with a share price close to the market price in
supporting the future growth of the company.
Webcast on 27 August 2021
SunMirror AG invites media representatives and institutional investors to a
conference call with accompanying presentation on the internet. Among other
things, the company will explain details of the transaction and the
company’s prospects.
The webcast will take place on 27 August 2021 at 09:00 am.
Interested parties can obtain the necessary access data at
dkaufmann@edicto.de.
About SunMirror AG
SunMirror is a natural resources holding company with a strategic focus on
traceable, responsibly sourced battery metals – the metals and minerals
whose demand is driven by sustainable next-generation technologies. The
company’s shares (ISIN CH0396131929) are listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange
(ticker: ROR1) and the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange. For further information,
please visit:Â www.sunmirror.com.
About Latitude 66 Cobalt Limited
Australian mining company Latitude 66 Cobalt Limited with business
activities in Finland is one of the leading exploration companies for Cobalt
in Europe and has promising exploration and mine development projects in
Finland. For further information, please visit:Â https://lat66.com/en
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