ASX-listed European Lithium has completed its business combination with Sizzle Acquisition to form Critical Metals, which started trading in the US earlier this week.

The Wolfsberg lithium project, in Austria, has become Critical Metals' initial flagship asset, and the mines’ future construction and commissioning is its focus.

“The company is thrilled to announce completion of the transaction that brings Critical Metals to life and supports the future commercialisation of the Wolfsberg project on Nasdaq,” said European Lithium chairperson Tony Sage.

With access to US capital markets and funds raised in the process of the listing, Sage said he believed that Critical Metals was well positioned to become a key supplier for the lithium-ion battery supply chain in Europe.

Critical Metals started trading on the Nasdaq on February 28. Its closing price on February 29 was $12.38 a share, reflecting a value for European Lithium shareholders of $839.22-million, or A$1.3-billion.

Wolfsberg is expected to be the first licensed lithium mine in Europe. The definitive feasibility study (DFS) proposes an average mine production rate of 780 000 t/y, peaking at 840 000 t/y over the life-of-mine (LoM), which is based on an ore reserve of 11.48-million tonnes, mined over 14.6 years.

The DFS envisages two integrated operations, a mining and processing operation to produce a lithium concentrate (spodumene), and a hydrometallurgical plant to convert the spodumene into battery-grade lithium hydroxide monohydrate (LHM).

The hydrometallurgical plant is expected to produce 8 800 t/y of LHM, with a total production of about 129 000 t of LHM over the LoM.

Total spodumene concentrate production is estimated at 90 000 t, coarse feldspar at 1.95-million tonnes, fine feldspar at 587 000 t, total coarse quartz at one-million tonnes and total fine quartz at 164 000 t.