As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information
International Lithium Corp. TSX.V - ILC, was conceived two years ago to capitalize on the burgeoning demand in green technology.
The objective was to spinout TNR Gold Corp's (TSX.V - TNR) lithium and rare metal properties into a separate publically traded company - International Lithium Corp.
The spinout would take advantage of the increased investor interest in this sector giving shareholders a potential, and perhaps significant, upwards valuation on the properties being in a separate entity.
Shares and Warrants of ILC commenced trading on the TSX Venture Exchange at the opening May 24, 2011.
"I commend the efforts of the entire team, from the driving forces who not only had a vision but the determination and ability to guide the plan, to the highly qualified technical professionals that took the plan and made it reality. Today, I look at a company with an outstanding portfolio of projects, strong management ownership, robust financial support and the acknowledgement of valuation from a prominent lithium product manufacturer". ~ International Lithium Corp. President, Mike Sieb
Salar de Llullaillaco - Mariana Project
ILC currently holds nine highly prospective projects for lithium and rare metals. One of the more prospective lithium properties in ILC's property portfolio is the Mariana lithium brine project in the mining friendly province of Salta, Argentina.
The Mariana Lithium Brine project is on the Puna plateau which sits at an elevation of 4,000m, stretches for 1800 km along the Central Andes and attains a width of 350-400 km. The Puna covers a portion of Argentina, Chile and Bolivia and hosts an estimated 70 - 80% of global lithium brine reserves.
The evaporate mineral deposits on the plateau - which may contain potash, lithium and boron - are formed by intense evaporation under hot, dry and windy conditions in an endorheic basin - endorheic basins are closed drainage basins that retain water and allow no outflow - precipitation and inflow water from the surrounding mountains only leaves the system by evaporation and seepage. The surface of such a basin is typically occupied by a salt lake or salt pan. Most of these salt lakes - called salars - contain brines which are capable of providing more than one potentially economic product.
This Puna Plateau area of the Andean mountains - where the borders of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile meet and bounded by the Salar de Atacama, the Salar de Uyuni and the Salar de Hombre Muerto - is often referred to as the Lithium Triangle and the three countries mentioned are the Lithium ABC's.
Salars are host to some of the largest known lithium resources in the world and are a prime source of global lithium production.
Infrastructure can make or break a project. Fortunately ILC's Mariana Project is well situated with road access, a railroad nearby and deep sea port access readily available. The town of Tolar Grande is within 120 kilometres, providing needed labour and inventory for the operating camp.
Initial sampling has been completed on the Mariana Project with significant lithium, boron, and potash levels reported within the main body of the salar.
Average grades from the most recent sampling program returned 440 mg/L lithium, 12,700 mg/L Potassium and 790 mg/L Boron. The lithium grade is comparable to initial results from other advanced projects in the area. The Potassium grades reported by ILC are the highest outside of the currently producing Atacama salar in Chile.
ILC is planning an initial phase $1 million drill program leading towards a resource estimate.
Lithium Market
Lithium makes an excellent battery for use in a wide range of applications - batteries using lithium have been found to have a high energy to weight ratio, can be moulded into amazing shapes and have longer lives than conventional batteries.
And when used as a rechargeable battery there is no memory effect.
There are significant savings to be had in the pricing of lithium from brines for lithium miners with quality projects close to all necessary infrastructure.
With the average market price of lithium carbonate trading at $5,500-6,000/tonne, SQM's Atacama mine producing at under $2,000/tonne and with emerging developers such as Lithium America's just releasing a projected production cost of under $1,500 per tonne, lithium extraction from brines in Argentina and Chile looks like a very lucrative business model.
Demand for Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) is expected to reach 105,000 mt in 2011. Demand projections reach 300,000 mt/y LCE by 2025.
Aheadoftheherd.com Special Report - Brine Mining
ILC's Other Lithium Projects
ILC has three lithium brine projects in Nevada - Fish Lake, Runway and Sarcobatus Flats. These projects are located in valleys adjacent to the Silver Peak lithium brine mining operation currently underway in Clayton Valley, Nevada. Silver Peak is the sole lithium brine producer in North America and has been in operation since 1966.
ILC has identified multiple drill targets across all three properties and ILC is planning to drill test all three properties in 2011.
"We consider the Nevada region as highly strategic, possessing excellent opportunity and significant potential." ~ states ILC President Mike Sieb.
Strategic Investor
Magna International, Frank Stronach, Toyota, and Mitsubishi are all familiar names who have invested into lithium projects in the area - the Olaroz salar, the Cauchari salar, Rio Grande and others.
End users such as Toyota and Mitsubishi are investing into these early stage projects and signing off-take agreements because of the security of supply issue.
"The involvement of a strategic investor from the outset has been the goal that we have diligently worked towards since first announcing the spin-out of ILC. The strategic investor not only offers significant support in our future endeavors but attest to the credibility of ILC's management, technical group and ultimately our projects' potential." ~ Gary Schellenberg, CEO - TNR Gold Corp.
ILC has entered into a strategic relationship agreement with a prominent Asian-based company - Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. Jiangxi Ganfeng specializes in the research, development, manufacturing and sale of lithium products worldwide.
"From our vantage point in Shanghai, we believe that China is looking to become a global leader in the production of electric vehicles. This requires that the country go outbound to secure lithium supplies. The most logical and prolific place to go is South America. We are very pleased to have assisted International Lithium Corp. in securing the strategic development capital from Ganfeng Lithium to capitalize upon this unique opportunity. We worked very closely with ILC and are delighted to participate in its success as the Company advances its core projects and fulfills its mission of becoming a leading international lithium and rare metals explorer and developer." ~ Erik Bethel, Managing Partner of SinoLatin Capital
Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co. has committed to an initial 9.9% equity share in ILC through participating in a financing and intends to provide instrumental future support towards the development of ILC's projects from a financial and technical perspective.
"Lithium is becoming an increasing vital element that will be essential in the development of sustainable technologies to curb global warming emissions." ~ Ganfeng Lithium
Ganfeng Lithium is based in Xinyu, Jiangxi Province, China and has developed a comprehensive lithium product chain - lithium metal and alloys, inorganic and organic lithium chemicals for the primary and secondary lithium battery market, pharmaceutical and new material industries.
Ganfeng's principal market is in China with international exports to Europe, Japan, USA and India.
Ganfeng Lithium was founded in the year 2000, was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in August 2010, has recently reported USD6.3 million net income from total revenues of USD54 million in 2010 and currently has a market capitalization of approximately US$680 million.
"We welcome Ganfeng Lithium as a strategic investor in International Lithium with a prime directive to support the advancement of our core projects and ultimately as an integral member to assist us in realizing our goal to become a recognized international lithium and rare metals explorer and developer." ~ Mike Sieb, President International Lithium Corp.
Rare Metals Projects
ILC's Moose property is located near the shore of Great Slave Lake in Canada's North West Territory (NWT). In the early 1950s the property produced 119 tonnes of lithium ore and an estimated 4,409 tonnes of high grade tantalum-niobium ore.
TNR's 2010 exploration program was limited to exposed outcroppings, however a channel sample returned 1.50 wt% Li2O over 7.5 meters confirming the continuity of high grade lithium across substantial widths within the pegmatite. A muck pile (waste from previous mining) returned 8.44 wt% Li2O indicating that the source pegmatite is highly evolved and underscores the future potential of the property. The historic exploration and mining did not penetrate below the 25 meter mark or extend beyond the local workings.
Surface exploration on the Mavis Lake rare metals' project, located 15 km Northeast of Dryden, Ontario, Canada has revealed high-grade and well evolved lithium and tantalum zones as well as significant levels of cesium and rubidium across multiple pegmatite bodies.
Both the Moose and Mavis Lake projects have drill programs scheduled for 2011.
Management
Gary Schellenberg B.Sc. (Geology), Executive Chairman of Board & CEO
Mr. Schellenberg has been managing and financing public and private resource based companies for the past 20 years. This experience provides the Company with leadership and well defined corporate goals.
Mr. Kirill Klip MBA, Non-Executive Chairman of Board
Mr. Klip graduated with a management degree from St. Petersburg State University of Railways and also holds an external degree of Masters of Business Administration in finance from both the International Business School in Moscow and Guildhall University in London. He has extensive expertise in banking, transportation, mining, telecommunication, and internet industries and his insight has brought many companies to the next level. In addition to years of entrepreneurial and investment endeavors, he is also currently managing a portfolio of global assets..
Michael Sieb B.Sc MBA, Director & President
Mr. Sieb brings 22 years of strong corporate growth and project management experience in international mining and exploration. Prior to joining TNR, Mr. Sieb was president of Brilliant Mining Ltd. which was named to the TSX50 "Top 10 Mining Companies on the TSX: V" for two consecutive years during his tenure. Mr. Sieb is recognized as a committed executive with an exceptional array of skills essential for operating and developing a premier mining company. He has earned a Masters of Business and Administration degree at the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geology at Concordia University.
Wayne Spilsbury B.Sc M.Sc, Director
Mr. Spilsbury brings 28 years of extensive management and executive level experience in the mining industry including 27 years with Teck Cominco Ltd. Mr. Spilsbury's executive roles include General Manager , Exploration-Asia Pacific and Regional Vice-President-Asia for Teck Cominco Ltd, Vice-President, Exploration for PacMin Mining Corp. and Senior Vice-President, Corporate Development for Ivanhoe Mines. Wayne earned his Masters of Science Degree in Applied Geology at Queen's University and Bachelor of Science Degree in Honours Geology at the University of British Columbia.
Bernard Dewonk B.Sc P.Geo, Director
Mr. Dewonck graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology in 1974 and Bachelor of Education in 1993. He has worked throughout North, Central and South America on a wide range of base, precious and industrial mineral projects, as well as in the Athabasca oil sands of northern Alberta. He has participated in and managed programs ranging from grassroots to detailed surface and underground drilling programs, and evaluated projects requiring report submissions to regulatory agencies.
John Harrop P. Geo, Chief Geologist
Mr. Harrop has been involved in many aspects of mineral exploration internationally in North, Central and South America for 24 years. He has been instrumental in identifying and exploring ILC's lithium brine properties in Argentina and Nevada. He also has substantial experience developing and implementing new technology, such as GIS and 3D geophysics, which can provide competitive advantages to exploration teams.
Thomas Currin B.Sc, Technical Advisor
Mr. Currin brings 31 years of lithium project expertise in the fields of engineering, processing, and evaluation. Mr. Currin is currently President and Co-Founder of Limtech Technologies Inc., a privately held company providing engineering services, lithium chemical products and recycling services to the lithium chemical industry. Prior to founding Limtech, Mr. Currin held the position of Division Planning Coordinator and Technical Manager with FMC Inc., a Fortune 500 diversified chemicals, mining and machinery company. FMC is one of the primary producers of lithium worldwide including operations in Argentina. Mr. Currin adds a critical element to the team with a breadth of operational business experience in the Lithium industry. Mr. Currin has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University and is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Carolinas Section.
Dr. Frederick W. Breaks, Technical Advisor
Dr. Breaks is a Ph.D. and Professional Geoscientist who is well known as a Lithium and Rare Earth Elements (REE) expert in Canada. A proven explorer, he discovered two significant lithium-rich deposits: the Big Whopper pegmatite near Kenora, Ontario and the Pakeagama Lake pegmatite in the North Spirit Lake area of Northwestern Ontario. His ability to create genetic and exploration models of lithium-rich, pegmatite deposits was developed during his career at Ontario Geological Survey where he authored and coauthored over 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers.
Jerry Huang MBA, VP Corporate Development
Mr. Huang has had a successful career in private and publicly traded companies in a marketing, service, and sales capacity. Prior to this appointment, he was a senior advisor with a major Canadian bank, generating over $40 million dollars of secured equity and investments. Well versed with Asian market dynamics and fluent in both Mandarin and Cantonese, he provides ILC with a versatile approach into Asia. Jerry has completed his MBA at Sauder School of Business at University of British Columbia, specializing in Finance & Strategic Management.
Share Structure
Shares: 65,901,354 (27,230,087 escrowed)
Warrants: 65,901,354 (expiry May 2013, strike price .375)
Fully Diluted: 131,802,708
Notable Shareholders:
TNR Gold Corp. - 29%
Jiangxi Lithium Co. - 9.99%
Kirill Klip - 11.5%
Treasury: $3,060,000.00
Debt: $0.0
Conclusion
The rechargeable power needs of our modern society has made lithium a serious player in the commodity markets and something for investors to seriously think about getting involved with. Each and every laptop, PDA, cell phone, and iPod sold makes lithium that much more valuable and interesting.
But with a clean green drive to end dependence on fossil fuels and reduce carbon footprints soon the main market for lithium won't just be cell phones, iPods and laptops but the next generation hybrid or totally electric vehicle batteries.
And that's why International Lithium should be on every investors radar screen. Is it on yours?
If not, maybe it should be.
Richard Mills does not own shares of International Lithium Corp. TSX.V - ILC
International Lithium Corp. TSX.V - ILC TSX.V - ILC is an advertiser on aheadoftheherd.com
