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Tanzania upbeat of windfall after US
miner makes ‘encouraging’ lithium
discoveries
TANZANIA TANZANIA is hoping to become a major pro- Titan 1 being particularly exceptional, consider-
ducer of lithium now that US firm Titan Lithium ing it is within an area that has seen no previous
Inc has made significant discoveries in two pro- exploration.
jects located south of Mount Kilimanjaro. Surface samplings of the deposits have
Titan has announced initial results from sep- indicated high-value lithium over extensive Surface
arate soil geochemical samplings in two loca- distances with the firm still in the process of
tions straddling the Kilimanjaro and Arusha defining the boundaries of the discovery across samplings of the
regions. the entire area.
Results from the samples indicate high lith- Results from the Titan 2 project that covers an deposits have
ium grades measuring up to 2.79% lithium area of about 60 square kilometres saw lithium
oxide, which the company termed as “encourag- grades measuring up to 1.98% lithium oxide. indicated high-
ing enough”, according to media outlet The East The discovery is a major boost for Tanzania, value lithium
African. which is hoping to become a big producer of the
“We’re still at a preliminary stage but we element with demand for lithium-ion batteries over extensive
are now committed to start pursuing formal for electric vehicles (EVs) forecast to continue
drilling approvals from the authorities. All rising. distances.
of this could take time so, for now, we can’t In October 2022, for instance, the United
really commit to any specific timelines to start States announced $2.8bn in grants to boost the
proper drilling,” Titan chairman Harp Sangha country’s production of EV batteries and the
said. minerals used to build them.
The Las Vegas-based firm controls interests Titan joins two Australian multinationals that
in the Titan 1 and Titan 2 project areas in the Mt have also made lithium discoveries in Tanzania.
Kilimanjaro region covering about 200 square In 2017, Liontown Resources identified deposits
kilometres. with values exceeding 1.5% lithium oxide while
According to the firm, results from the ini- in July 2022 Cassius Mining Ltd acquired pros-
tial geochemical sampling are staggering with pecting licences covering about 300 square kilo-
the size and strength of the Lithium anomaly at metres in the same area.
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 12 22•March•2023
