Alita Resources placed on liquidation, clearing way for lithium mine sale to MinRes

A court on Wednesday placed Singapore-listed Alita Resources into liquidation, paving the way for Australia’s Mineral Resources to acquire the Bald Hill lithium mine.

The order granted approval for Alita to execute a share sale agreement with Mineral Resources to dispose of the mine, per a statement by Alita’s administrators, McGrath Nicol.

The ruling comes at a time when Western Australia’s lithium sector is consolidating as market participants closely watch local billionare Gina Rinehart lift stake in Albemarle Corp’s buyout target, Liontown Resources.

Mineral Resources, called MinRes, had earlier this month updated the market of its intentions to acquire the Bald Hill mine after the Foreign Investment Review Board blocked a takeover by China-linked Austroid Corporation.

“If the court orders the liquidator to be appointed, MinRes will pay out the secured debt and acquire Alita’s interest in the Bald Hill mine,” MinRes had said in a statement on Sept. 4.

The mine was hit by a string of liquidity issues amid a slump in commodity prices back in 2019, which has been the primary asset of Alita.

Alita Resources, once called Mineral Assets Pty and was listed on the Australian stock exchange, has been under administration for nearly four years.