04:41 PM EDT, 03/25/2024 (MT Newswires) -- South Star Battery Metals ( STSBF ) on Monday said a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its BamaStar Graphite Project in Alabama is underway.

The company said it the consultants, engineers and scientists carrying out the study will be led by Dorfner ANZAPLAN and Lycopodium. The study is expected to be released in July.

The company said the study, when released, completes the requirements in an option agreement, giving it the right to acquire a 75% stake in the project.

"We are pleased to kickoff the PEA for BamaStar and to advance the project together with our partners. The PEA is expected to take approximately three to four months to complete, and we believe it will present a robust scenario with two scalable mines producing high-quality concentrates and a value-add plant in the middle of one of the most critical EV, defense, and energy storage corridors in the U.S.," chief executive Richard Pearce said in a release.

South Star Battery Metals ( STSBF ) shares closed up C$0.01 to C$0.57 on the TSX Venture Exchange.