[SMM News] Premier, Canmax Extend Long Stop Date on Zulu Lithium Offtake Agreement to December 31

TSX-V-listed Frontier Lithium has appointed DRA Americas to conduct an updated feasibility study on its PAK lithium project in Ontario, Canada. The study will incorporate work completed since the 2025 feasibility study, including value engineering results, with a focus on optimising project economics and derisking execution. Publication is expected in Q1 2027. Frontier Lithium continues to advance permitting and consultation for PAK under Ontario's One Project, One Process framework, alongside Indigenous engagement, environmental studies, and infrastructure initiatives. CEO Trevor Walker said the update aims to capture progress made to date and position the project's "Mine and Mill" stage for its next phase, citing PAK's high grade lithium resource, Ontario location, and rising North American demand for secure domestic critical mineral supply. The move reflects a broader push by North American jurisdictions to build domestic lithium supply chains as automakers and battery makers look beyond China-linked sources, with the updated study marking a standard step toward a final investment decision.

Australia and Frankfurt-listed Vulcan Energy has secured a second lithium production licence, valid six years, for its Lionheart project in Germany, currently under construction. The new Ilka licence follows an earlier grant covering the LiThermEx area, making it the second such licence issued in the Upper Rhine Valley Brine Field and Rhineland-Palatinate state. Lionheart's first phase targets 24,000 t/y of lithium hydroxide monohydrate, enough for about 500,000 EVs annually, alongside 275GWh of renewable power and 560GWh of heat per year from its integrated geothermal component, over an estimated 30 year project life. The Ilka licence expires September 2032, after which Vulcan will seek to merge its two production licences into one. CEO Cris Moreno said the licence validates progress toward becoming Europe's leading low-cost lithium producer, with construction on track for first production in 2028. Lionheart combines brine based lithium extraction with geothermal power, positioning it to supply EV battery-grade lithium hydroxide into the European market without reliance on imported spodumene or carbonate feedstock.

Lohum Cleantech has dispatched its first lithium ore shipment from Zimbabwe's Matabeleland South Province, starting production at the Indian company's first overseas mine and marking, by its own account, the first such extraction by an Indian producer abroad. Lohum holds 10 spodumene blocks across roughly 1,100 hectares, estimated to contain 30-40 million tonnes of ore and yield about 300,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent over the mine's life. At current prices, the company values the in-situ resource at roughly US$7 billion, though it notes this is not a project valuation or return forecast. Ore will be processed initially in Zimbabwe, then refined into lithium carbonate in India. Lohum plans local processing capacity ahead of Zimbabwe's January 2027 concentrate export ban, and holds preferred rights over up to 90 adjacent blocks. The entry adds new supply to Zimbabwe's spodumene base, already a key feedstock source amid steady global battery-demand growth. Lohum's upstream move mirrors a broader trend of overseas refiners securing African feedstock, while Zimbabwe's 2027 export ban will steer more of this supply toward in-country beneficiation rather than raw concentrate exports. Lohum operates across primary production, battery recycling, refining, and advanced materials. In 2022 it signed a US$200 million deal to supply Glencore with 10,000 tonnes of recycled battery specialty chemicals over five years.