Wesfarmers Limited, one of Australia’s largest corporate conglomerates, has signed a major deal with an Australian fledgling gold miner for rights to prospective lithium tenements.

Western Australia has been buzzing with major wheeling and dealing in lithium and battery metals in recent weeks, as multinationals swoop in to secure the lithium supply needed for the EV and renewable energy storage boom.

Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX:OBM) this week announced a binding joint venture and farm-in agreement with Brenahan Exploration Pty Ltd (BEPL), a subsidiary of Perth HQd Wesfarmers Group (ASX: WES).

The deal will see OBM selling 65% of its non-core mineral rights on the Davyhurst tenement package in the Goldfields region of Western Australia, for a cash consideration of A$26 million along with a 2% royalty. 

The mining company is sitting on huge areas of prospective land that could be rich in lithium, nickel and other minerals, along with gold.

Shares in OBM surged 20% on the news Monday morning in Sydney.

Ora Banda managing director Luke Creagh said: “The Davyhurst tenement package is very large and has never had any sustained or modern exploration programs given its disjointed and under-capitalised historical ownership. 

“Although we have had encouraging early-stage lithium results, Ora Banda is a gold-focused company and given the underexplored nature and size of this belt, we expect it would take many years to do it justice for other minerals.

 “We are very excited by this transaction as WesCEF is a high calibre strategic partner who has the technical expertise and capability to unlock the belt for minerals that are non-core to Ora Banda.

“The WesCEF team that will work on this tenement package has a track record of success as they discovered and are helping deliver the Mt Holland Lithium Project.

“In total, we view this as a 45 million dollar deal with $30 million in cash and $15 million in exploration expenditure,” he said.

The deal was the latest news in a flurry of activity in the region, with Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart in a land grab for lithium. 

The billionaire, Australia’s wealthiest person, has blocked major deals in recent weeks that would have seen major multinationals control local lithium supplies.

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