QX Resources (ASX:QXR) developing hard rock lithium assets in WA

QX Resources Limited (ASX:QXR) Managing Director Stephen Promnitz discusses what brought him to QXR, and the company's assets and development stage.

Tim McGowen: We're talking today with QX Resources (ASX:QXR). If you don't know the company, it's got a market code of QXR. It's got a market cap of $42m. We're talking to their new CEO, Steve Promnitz. Steve, thanks for your time.

Steve Promnitz: Thanks, Tim. Thanks for the opportunity.

Tim McGowen: Now, Steve, it's been a few months or so since you left Lake (ASX:LKE). So the obvious question is, what's attracted you to QX Resources?

Steve Promnitz: Well, first of all, there is a clear theme around battery minerals. You saw that in my previous job. And what's good about QX is they have a good portfolio across the spectrum of battery minerals. A solid board — each person has very different skill sets, complementary. And they're well-financed. And I suspect that getting that money in the junior space could be a challenge, but they're well set up, and so then we can take that to the next level. And, last of all, they've put a number of projects together and they actually need somebody now to run it.

Tim McGowen: And can you talk to us a little bit about their projects and assets, the size and scope of these assets and the development stage as well?

Steve Promnitz: Well, all of them are early exploration stage. And so there's some gold assets – and it's always nice to have some gold assets — but the key focus has actually been on their lithium assets in WA. The star project is Turner River. It's literally 15km from Wodgina. Wodgina is the largest hard rock lithium project identified in Australia. And you find elephants in elephant country. Plus, they've got a couple of other tenements in WA, which looks good. Maybe that might lead to some consolidation later on. But the great part about hard rock lithium is that you can go from exploration into production very quickly, much faster than brines.

Tim McGowen: And, of course, Steve, you've had incredible experience at Lake, taking it from a million-dollar startup to a $2bn ASX 200 company. What's your key focus now at QX Resources over the next 6 to 12 months?

Steve Promnitz: Well, the first thing is to actually get some results out from the ground that's already there. The first one, Turner River, and another one, Split Rock in WA. We are going to have results out of that in October, November. Then leading into a geo program, geophysics. And then we can probably add to that or consolidate that as results come out. We'll also have some results in the gold. That's perhaps not going to move the market, but it'll be a nice little thing to consolidate.

Tim McGowen: And, Steve, obviously with your experience as the CEO of Lake, you bring with that some incredible contacts — particularly, obviously, in the lithium space. How is that going help QX Resources?

Steve Promnitz: Well, that's actually the key thing I can bring. QXR had got to the stage where they needed somebody to run things. I had offers, larger, smaller, but it was just the right size, because now I can bring the car makers, the battery makers, the cathode makers, the financiers towards that earlier stage of exploration, concertina that timeline to then actually go from discovery into development and production more quickly. And if you look at the scale of demand for battery minerals, we're going to need a number of these projects. We're going to need at least another 10 Wodginas over the next few years, and I think a good place to find those is going to be in WA.

Tim McGowen: Steve Promnitz, thanks for your time.

Steve Promnitz: Thank you.

Source: Finance News Network