Sep 14 (Reuters) – Australian lithium developer Lake Resources NL (LKE.AX) said there was a dispute with Lilac Solutions Inc over a deadline in which a US partner reached some milestones to acquire a 25% stake in Argentina’s Kachi lithium project, causing its shares to drop 20%.
Lilac, backed by Bill Gates, believes it has until November 30 to reach the necessary milestones to secure up to a 25% stake in the Kachi project, while Lake believes the milestones must be reached by September 30, the statement said. Australian company on Wednesday. .
Milestones include Lilac completing at least 1,000 hours of operation at the Lilac pilot plant at the Kachi site and producing feedstock totaling at least 2,500 kg of lithium carbonate equivalents, Lake said.
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Lake, which signed an agreement last September with private company Lilac to jointly develop the Kachi project, said it exercised its rights to resolve the dispute either through an agreement between Lake and Lilac or through arbitration. read more
Lake said it has the option to exercise certain buyback rights on the deal if Lilac does not reach the milestone by the required date.
Short-selling company J Capital Research recently said that Lake’s plan to make lithium in Argentina relies on a lithium recovery process that probably doesn’t work. Lake denied this claim.
Lilac did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
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Reporting by Himanshi Akhanda in Bangalore; Editing by Rashmi Aich
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