Critical Mineral Resources plc announced that it has acquired 26 exploration permits in central Morocco prospective for copper, antimony, tungsten, lead-zinc and gold. CMR has acquired the permits through the acquisition of Hesperis Resources SARL, a Moroccan company. The acquisition transforms CMR's incubator portfolio in terms of the Company's footprint of prospective ground in Morocco and its exposure to a wider range of critical metals and minerals.

The Hesperis permits are located in the Rabat, Beni-Mellal, Agadir and Errachidia administrative regions and cover approximately 400 km2. These regions boast a number of historical and current mining sites with established road and power infrastructure. Reflecting Hesperis' confidence in the opportunity the permitted ground offers and CMR's ability to develop it, its shareholders have agreed to an all-share transaction that sees CMR issue 3.0 million shares to the owners of Hesperis at completion, followed by 1.5 million shares deliverable at the start of drilling.

As a sign of their commitment to the project the Hesperis shareholders have also agreed to a ten-month lock-in period. Transaction highlights The acquisition of 26 exploration permits prospective for copper, antimony., tungsten, lead-Zinc and gold, wholly in line with CMR's stated strategy of targeting and acquiring clean energy development assets in Morocco. The permitted area covers approximately 400 km2 across in recognised and well-established mining regions, which boast numerous existing mining businesses in production along with the required infrastructure.

The newly acquired permits ensure CMR now has meaningful exposure to a broad range of clean energy materials across permitted areas of significant geographic scale. The agreement is split into two stages, with an Initial Consideration of PS150,000 payable by the issue of 3,000,000 ordinary shares to be issued at a price of 5p per share, followed by Deferred Consideration of PS75,000 payable by the issue the issue of 1,500,000 shares, conditional on CMR electing to commence exploration drilling on any one of the Hesperis permits. Noureddine Sabraoui, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, is a 25% beneficial owner of Hesperis.

As such, the transaction is considered to be a related party transaction. The directors of CMR confirm that having exercised reasonable care, skill and diligence, the related party transaction is fair and reasonable insofar as the shareholders of Critical Mineral Resources are concerned. The Company now possesses a significant opportunity through its ongoing roll-up of permits across a sizeable footprint within well-established Moroccan mining territories.

Critically, now have excellent momentum as we continue to deliver against our stated strategy of developing an exciting portfolio of assets with the potential to bring minerals vital for the clean energy revolution into production and cash generation. We are delighted to welcome the Hesperis owners as shareholders to the business".