AEFI will have the option to acquire the Hendeka Project by making certain payments and committing to solely fund A$2m ($1.33m) in exploration expenditure. Credit: Maksim Safaniuk/Shutterstock.

Trek Metals has signed a binding option and acquisition agreement to offload the Hendeka Manganese Project in the Pilbara region of WA to US-based Advanced Energy Fuels (AEFI).

AEFI is a private US company, which is gearing up to list in the coming 12 months.

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Under the agreed terms, AEFI will have the option to acquire the Hendeka Project by making certain payments and committing to solely fund A$2m in exploration expenditure.

AEFI has already paid an option fee of A$50,000 for the exclusive right to acquire the project, with A$25,000 received to date.

If AEFI exercises the option, it will acquire Trek’s subsidiaries Edge Minerals and Bellpiper, which hold the tenements constituting the Hendeka Project.

Additionally, AEFI will pay A$450,000 upon its proposed listing, which is expected on or before 30 September 2025.

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This deal will allow Trek to concentrate on its flagship gold and niobium projects in WA and the Northern Territory, while retaining exposure to the future upside of the Hendeka Project.

The Hendeka Project encompasses a number of tenements, including E46/616, E46/787, E46/835, E46/1159, E46/1160, E46/1282, E46/1304, E46/1387, E46/1521, E46/1542 and R46/2.

Trek CEO Derek Marshall said: “The Hendeka Project offers significant optionality on the resurgence of the manganese sector following recent well-publicised global supply issues.

“However, it is a non-core project for Trek given our strategic focus on the Christmas Creek Project, where we have a major gold drilling programme under way, and our exciting McEwen Hills Niobium Project.

“The deal is structured in a way that will give Trek significant exposure to future upside from the exploration and development of Hendeka via a 20% shareholding.

“We are excited about our current drilling programme at the Christmas Creek project, which is thought to host a potential extension of the prolific Granites-Tanami Orogen, with metasediments in the area showing a correlation to the geological sequences that host Newmont’s globally significant Tanami Gold Mine.”