Pilbara Minerals Ltd (ASX: PLS) shares are having a good session on Tuesday.
In afternoon trade, the lithium miner's shares are up 3% to $2.30.
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Why are Pilbara Minerals shares rising today?
A number of ASX lithium stocks are rising today as investor sentiment improves after yesterday's trade tariff induced selloff.
In addition, the company made an announcement today that may have gone down well with the market.
According to the release, Pilbara Minerals has completed its acquisition of Latin Resources (ASX: LRS) by way of a scheme of arrangement.
The all-scrip deal has seen the company issue 205,521,136 new shares to Latin Resources shareholders. This values the lithium developer at approximately $473 million.
Management believes that the completion of the acquisition of Latin Resources, and its flagship Colina Project, marks a significant milestone in the company's history. It highlights that it is consistent with its strategy to grow and diversify revenues beyond the Pilgangoora operation in the Pilbara.
It also notes that the Colina Project has the potential to become a leading hard rock lithium operation by production globally and is located in the world class mining jurisdiction of Minas Gerais, Brazil, with development flexibility to supply new markets.
Pilbara Minerals' managing director and CEO, Dale Henderson, said:
On behalf of the PLS Board of Directors and the leadership team, we would like to welcome Latin Resources team members and securityholders joining PLS. We are excited by the opportunities ahead at our Colina Project in Brazil. The PLS team is looking forward to working with our new colleagues in Brazil to advance project studies and resume drilling activities, which will support the future development of the Colina Project.
The completion of this acquisition marks a significant milestone for PLS, providing us with our second 100% owned, high quality, hard rock lithium asset. This asset is expected to be low-cost and accretive for our shareholders, offering us the flexibility to sequence new supply and diversify into emerging growth markets for lithium, such as Europe and North America.
What's next?
Management advised that it has worked closely with the Latin Resources team to develop an integration plan to assist with a seamless integration.
It is now conducting a review to evaluate opportunities to further optimise the Colina Project. The company's team will work closely with its new in-country Brazilian team to complete the review.
This will inform project design and development studies incorporating key learnings from Pilgangoora and other producers in Brazil, and building off the work completed by the in-country team to date.
