May 18 (SeeNews) - Canada's Leading Edge Materials (LEM) said it has signed exploration licence for the Bihor Sud nickel and cobalt project with Romania's National Agency for Mineral Resources, ANMR.
The exploration license was signed by LEM's 51% owned local joint-venture subsidiary LEM Romania (LEMR), the company said in a press release on Tuesday.
The exclusive licence was awarded to the company following a tender.
The project has excellent potential to enable a more secure and sustainable supply of these key battery raw materials from within the European Union, the company said.
Located approximately 90 km south-east from Oradea, the administrative capital of Bihor county, the license perimeter covers a 25 sq km area in the northern Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania.
"Surging demand from the battery industry for high-energy density battery metals such as nickel and cobalt, combined with increasing geopolitical risks, have pushed prices higher for both metals over the last year. European battery production capacity is starting to come into production and there is an urgent need to develop more secure and sustainable raw material supply alternatives within the region," Leading Edge Materials CEO Filip Kozlowski said.
Leading Edge Materials is a Canadian public company focused on production of high value critical raw materials for the European market. Its portfolio includes the 51% owned Bihor Sud Nickel Cobalt exploration alliance in Romania and the 100% owned Woxna Graphite mine, and the Norra Kaerr HREE project.
(1 euro=4.9477 euro)