The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved European Lithium Ltd (ASX:EUR, OTCQB:EULIF)’s proposed merger to combine the company’s Wolfsberg Lithium Project in Austria with Sizzle under a new lithium exploration and development company named 'Critical Metals Corp.' to be listed on the NASDAQ under the symbol 'CRML'.
Following completion of the transaction, European Lithium will be issued US$750 million worth of ordinary shares in CRML.
Confirmation of the SEC’s approval has sent the company’s shares up by as much as 37.5% this morning to A$0.099 on strong trading volume after the company emerged from a trading halt it entered last Friday. This strong move today comes despite quiet trading across the wider market this week.
SEC declares F-4 effective
In approving the proposed merger transaction with Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company Sizzle Acquisition Corp., the SEC declared effective the Form F-4 Registration Statement of Critical Metals.
“The company is excited to announce that the SEC has declared the F-4 effective. We look forward to the completion of the transaction and the proposed listing on the NASDAQ that offers increased access to US capital markets as the Critical Metals team works to successfully commercialise Wolfsberg. The listing on NASDAQ is also expected to create a significant increase in shareholder value,” said European Lithium chair Tony Sage.
European Lithium first announced it had entered into a business combination agreement with Sizzle on October 26, 2022, and the transaction was approved by European Lithium shareholders on January 20, 2023.
Sizzle stockholders will be asked to approve the transaction in a virtual format on or around January 23, 2024.
Looking ahead: European Lithium’s focus
European Lithium will shortly commence the initial work program at its Austrian lithium projects, consisting of 245 exploration licences covering a total area of 114.6 square kilometres that are around 70 kilometres north of the Wolfsberg Project. This ground is considered prospective for lithium occurrences and initial surface sampling shows 3.98% lithium oxide.
The company will also advance its key Ukrainian lithium assets as political events allow. These assets will be the key focus of the company going forward.
On completion of the Critical Metals Corp. NASDAQ listing, European Lithium will have an interest in the following projects and investments:
Critical Metals Corp.: the company will be issued US$750 million worth of ordinary shares in CRML upon closing of the transaction.
Listed Investments:
- 1,180,256,849 shares (representing an 11.3% interest) in Cyclone Metals Ltd (ASX:CLE). Cyclone recently acquired 100% of the Iron Bear magnetite iron ore project in Canada’s Labrador trough region, where Cyclone recently announced a concentrate produced by metallurgical test work of 70.65% iron with a silica level of only 1.2%.
- 15,000,000 shares in CuFe Ltd (ASX:CUF), which currently exports iron ore from its Wiluna deposit and has copper, lithium and niobium tenements in various stages of exploration.
Unlisted Investments:
- European Lithium holds a 7.5% equity interest in Tanbreez Mining Greenland A/S, which holds an exploitation permit for rare earths in Greenland.
- Austrian lithium exploration assets – 100% of the rights, title and interest in the BretsteinLachtal, Klementkogel and Wildbachgraben projects in Austria, covering an area of 114.6 square kilometres in total, which are prospective for lithium.
The company says that it continues to review project opportunities in the mineral exploration area as part of its growth strategy.