SOLIS MINERALS LTD (SLM) - A 93,000 Hectare Lithium Bet Next Door To A Major Discovery

A junior explorer doesn’t often get the chance to step into prime ground that’s already been stress-tested by a major miner, right in the middle of a proven hard-rock lithium district. That’s why we sat down with Mitch Thomas, CEO of Solis Minerals, to unpack Solis’ strategic acquisition from Rio Tinto in Brazil’s Lithium Valley and what a 93,000 hectare land position can really mean when the targets are already defined and the plan is to drill.

We talk through the story behind the deal, including why this particular concession package is so compelling, how it sits in a region the team knows intimately, and how Solis’ history of building a lithium discovery next door shapes their technical approach today. Mitch explains what makes the early indicators worth chasing, from high lithium soil results to spodumene pseudomorphs, and why Rio Tinto’s extensive groundwork may give Solus a head start as it moves from surface work into scout drilling.

Lithium isn’t the only pillar. We also dig into Solis’ Peru copper portfolio, how the company thinks about copper porphyry exploration alongside lithium, and why operating across two in-demand energy metals can support more consistent market updates. Mitch also shares why Solis moved to an Australian-registered structure, what it means for ASX investors in terms of governance and liquidity, and the milestones to watch as the company targets drilling around mid-2026.

If you follow lithium exploration, Brazil mining projects, ASX resource stocks, or copper growth stories, hit subscribe, share this episode with a mate, and leave us a review so more investors can find the conversation.

Transcript

Andrew Musgrave

Welcome back to ASX Briefs, the podcast bringing you conversations with ASX listed companies. And today we're joined by Mitch Thomas, the CEO of Solis Minerals Limited, a company that has just made a massive move into Brazil's world-class lithium valley through a strategic acquisition from Rio Tinto. Mitch, great to have you with me today and welcome to the ASX Briefs podcast.

Mitch Thomas

Thank you very much, Andrew. Pleasure to be here.

Andrew Musgrave

Now, Mitch, for those new to the Solis story, you've recently announced a district scale acquisition in Brazil. So, can you provide an overview of this 93,000-hectare project and why partnering with Rio Tinto for this specific acreage is such a game changer for the company?

Mitch Thomas

Yeah, so look, we've been working on this for 12 months. But look, as you know, with doing DD, all of your, I guess, your work to get to the point of an announcement, it can be quite lengthy. So, we're very pleased that now has come the time to kind of put it out there. And look for us, I mean, timing is absolutely everything. And one, it's a very good project or even package of projects, because it is, as you say, a large district, but coinciding with lithium, it's just yeah, a great intersection of potential for our shareholders, which is great. On your questions as to, I guess, you know, why is, why the acquisition from Rio Tinto and I guess what it means is that it's probably worthwhile to give a little bit of context in that Solis Minerals, in its current, I guess, incarnation, you know, with me as CEO has been around for about 12 months. But before becoming the CEO of Solis Minerals, with the chairman and also another non-executive director, Tony Greenaway, we, I guess, were the team leading Latin Resources. And another bit of history in that we sold that company with the deal completing in February last year. So, call it a bit over 12 months ago. So, we sold a very large project in Brazil called the Colina Lithium Project to PLS, which is the very large Australian hard rock lithium producer. So, to kind of tile that together, the opportunity and the acquisition that we've just announced now for Solis Minerals is an adjacent concession package to the concession package that we sold last year for $600 million to PLS. And so, for us, it's very much area and land that we understand very well. The geological signatures are very similar in the ground that we've just acquired to the project that we discovered and sold last year. And so, for us and our shareholders, just a very, very exciting project and one good timing with lithium. So, we're just very keen to get in there and start drilling.

Andrew Musgrave

And just leading on from being next to PLS group's tenure, how does your team's history of delivering the Latin Resources discovery in this exact region give you a technical edge?

Mitch Thomas

So, look, we spent from discovery to divestment, it'd call it about six or seven years. And that's a considerable amount of time in that part of the world. So, one from a technical perspective or geological perspective, you know, we have confidence about what we're looking for and what we're not looking for. So, within that 90,000-hectare package, we've already done extensive DD, including on the ground, and we know which are the two best targets that we want to start drilling for. So, I guess we have confidence that we can, you know, mitigate the, I guess, the risk of not having success with exploration to really concentrate our you know time and money into the targets that we think can give us the best results. And again, that draws on those six or seven years in that area or that part of the world. But one thing that sometimes isn't really focused on in the work that we do is that the work that goes on behind the scenes in terms of land access agreements, in terms of contracts, your legal relationships, permitting all of this work, whilst you know it's not sexy as perhaps you know delivering drill hole results and the like, but it's vital to have success with the business and to deliver timely news. And the head start that we have in terms of the relationships, the know-how, you know, just having been there for so long is actually an incredible advantage for us and our shareholders. And I think that's probably one of the reasons why Rio Tinto saw us as a counterparty that would be the best to deliver further exploration across this tenement package. So, we feel that we know this part of the world very well and are in a great position to deliver good results for shareholders.

Andrew Musgrave

Okay, and the historical data from Rio Tinto mentioned soil samples, over 300 ppm lithium and spodumene pseudomorphs in float samples. So, how do these initial indicators compare to the early discovery stages of other major deposits in the area like Colina?

Mitch Thomas

Yeah, so for Colina, that we've got some very, I guess, similar analogies that we make, and you know, Rio Tinto, and I needed to you know give full disclosure that I work for Rio Tinto for 12 years, and its number one, a very impressive company. But number two, their exploration expertise is really second to none. And you know, they're afforded that, I guess, luxury compared to other companies because they are very well resourced. And we've really been the benefactor in this instance due to that, I guess, ownership by Rio Tinto, in that, as you mentioned, the work that they've done and the extent of sampling, the augur drill holes, the rock chips that they performed, and fortunately have provided all of the information to us, including some geophysics, probably actually goes above and beyond what we would do to get to the point of drilling some targets. And, you know, for a number of reasons, Rio Tinto opted not to drill these targets, and you know, we can get into that, but we're really the benefactor of acquiring a concession package with two drill-ready targets, leveraging all that information to make sure that we get the best results out of that that you know drilling strategy. And the only thing left to do now is really just to drill.

Andrew Musgrave

Okay, and while the lithium news is front and centre, you also have a strong copper portfolio in Peru. So, how do you balance the energy metal strategy between your copper porphyry targets like Cucho and this new high-impact lithium pillar?

Mitch Thomas

Look, I think we can manage them in a very symbiotic way, in that you know, you've got copper at all-time highs, over 600 cents a pound. Lithium is heading in that direction, and you know, the excitement around what the outlook for lithium and battery energy storage and EVs is incredibly high at the moment. And that was even before, I guess, you know, the events that are kicking off in the Middle East. So, we feel that we're in two segments of the market which are probably two of the best to be based in, you know, and I say that with a bit of bias. But they're also two areas that we understand well. I mean, you know, for me, I've worked in in copper and lithium almost exclusively, whilst at Rio Tinto and then and then afterwards. And they're also just, you know, as an organization, the two metals that we understand the best. And we also feel that we're South American kind of specialists. So very easy to manage. And I think to be totally transparent, to have multiple high-quality targets across Brazil and Peru gives us the opportunity to actually, I guess, be more regular with our news flow. The start of this year could have been better. We had some delays with permitting in Peru that are now being resolved. But we really feel the addition of this acquisition or this package in Brazil with a lot easier pathway to drilling really provides us a nice buffer to deliver more and more frequent good news into the market. And we feel that, you know, copper and lithium can do that. So, yeah, so overall we're very happy with what we're sitting with at the moment.

Andrew Musgrave

And the company recently transitioned to an Australian registered company. So, how does this move, combined with being fully funded for your initial drilling, improve your visibility and liquidity for ASX investors?

Mitch Thomas

Yes, yeah. So that was a decision that we made pretty much as soon as I started, in that, you know, we were very respectful to our original and initial shareholders on the TSX. But as the way that I guess markets and demand for our stock went, that our Canadian shareholders reflected, I think, about 7% of our register when I started. And so, the cost of maintaining a business in Canada just wasn't a good trade-off for shareholders, to be honest. So, we have successfully exited that dual listing structure. So, we're primarily listed now in in Australia. We still have some fantastic Canadian shareholders, but it just means one, it's a lot simpler from a governance perspective. You know, you don't have to get announced announcements cleared in two jurisdictions. Raising capital is easier because again, you're not burdened by two different rule sets. And, you know, for me, being a former finance person is that we're saving a lot more money and that money can just go into exploration where you know we can deliver results. So overall, it's yeah, it sets us up really nicely for 2026.

Andrew Musgrave

Now, lastly, Mitch, with surface exploration moving immediately into scout drilling, what are the primary milestones and results that investors should be looking out for as we move through the 2026 work program?

Mitch Thomas

So, look, we want to be drilling as quick as possible. And that was you know, the strategy with buying these concessions in that we do have two drill-ready targets. What that means in reality is that we will spend a month on the ground. So, you know, we're mobilizing a team next week, and that's within a week of announcing the deal to do that work in terms of surface mapping and one working out a drilling strategy and also a drilling sequence, so where to start drilling. But we put is the announcement that we want to start drilling by mid-year. In my head, that means June 2026. So, we'll have good we'll have news to deliver in in the very I guess, you know, the very short term, which is what our shareholders want.

Andrew Musgrave

All right, Mitch. Well, it's been great to chat today. Obviously, plenty going on at the company, so we wish you all the best, and we look forward to further updates from Solis Minerals in the upcoming months.

Mitch Thomas

Thank you very much, Andrew. I'll speak soon.

Andrew Musgrave

That concludes this episode of ASX Briefs. Don't forget to subscribe, and we look forward to catching you on our next episode.