European Lithium Advances Processing Strategy with Romanian Partnership and Capital Raise

European Lithium has initiated the week by announcing two significant corporate developments aimed at solidifying its position within Europe's critical raw materials supply chain. The company has entered into a preliminary agreement for a rare earths processing joint venture in Romania and has successfully concluded a share option offer, strengthening its financial position.

In a parallel move to its operational expansion, European Lithium has closed its recent option offer. The results indicate strong backing from its investor base.

• The offer saw an 83% participation rate from eligible holders.
• This high uptake is viewed as a sign of substantial shareholder confidence.
• The remaining unsubscribed portion was taken up by the company's directors.

This structure provides the company with additional working capital without an immediate need for further placements. The decision by management to subscribe to the balance also reinforces the alignment of their interests with those of existing shareholders.

Strategic Joint Venture Targets European Processing

The company confirmed the signing of a term sheet to establish a joint venture in Romania. The local partner is reported to be Fabrica de Prelucrare a Concentratelor de Uraniu S.R.L. (FPCU), an entity with existing experience in uranium processing.

The planned venture will focus on constructing a facility to process rare earth concentrates. This operation is directly linked to the Tanbreez resource project in South Greenland, in which European Lithium holds an interest through Critical Metals Corp.

The envisioned setup could allow the Romanian plant to process up to 50% of the output from Tanbreez. This would create a largely integrated supply chain, from mining to processing, located within Europe and adjacent regions.

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Prior to this announcement, trading in the company's shares was halted pending news related offtake agreements for Critical Metals Corp. The joint venture is considered a key component of the broader commercialization strategy for these resources.

Alignment with EU Critical Raw Materials Objectives

These developments occur against the backdrop of the European Union's Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA). The EU's strategic goal is to develop more processing capacity for strategic resources within its economic area, thereby reducing reliance on external suppliers—notably China, which dominates global rare earths processing.

By planning a processing site within EU member state Romania and linking it to the substantial Tanbreez deposit in Greenland, European Lithium is positioning itself as a potential contributor to this European infrastructure initiative.

The Romanian partner, FPCU, contributes existing industrial facilities and uranium processing expertise, which may lower required investment and lead times compared to a completely greenfield project. This approach mirrors the company's strategy of building regional value chains, as seen with its Wolfsberg lithium project in Austria.

Next Steps and Operational Focus

Several milestones are anticipated in the coming months, including the finalization of definitive joint venture agreements, potential feasibility studies for the Romanian plant, and aligning its development timeline with the ramp-up of the Tanbreez project in Greenland.

With secured funding from the completed option offer, European Lithium has enhanced flexibility to advance these projects. Operationally, the company's focus is increasingly shifting from pure exploration toward the execution and integration of planned extraction and processing capacities, targeting progress through 2026.