AmeriLithium Provides Corporate Update on Diversified Lithium Projects
LAKE TAHOE, NV., April 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AmeriLithium (OTC Bulletin Board: AMEL; "AmeriLithium" or "the Company") is pleased to provide an update on the Company's growing, diversified portfolio of Lithium projects, which now includes US-based holdings in Nevada, Canada-based holdings in Alberta, and Western Australia holdings positioned to service emerging Asian markets.
AmeriLithium has already amassed one of the largest North American Lithium portfolios of any player in the industry (~670,000 acres), including a project adjacent to the only Lithium producing plant in the US. Added to this is the Company's 43,000+ acres of Western Australia holdings.
Furthermore, the Company recently announced (March 29, 2010) it had entered into a $10 million financing agreement on March 26, 2010 with a European institutional investor focused on mining ventures. The financing will effectively enable AmeriLithium to move forward into the geological exploration stages of its North American and Australian properties.
Matthew Worrall, AmeriLithium's CEO, commented on the Company's aggressive acquisition and exploration strategy and recent financing agreement by stating, "We're excited to have secured such a solid base of Lithium-prospective properties this rapidly and the funding to exploit those holdings. And while we're continuing to identify further potential projects, our focus is squarely on exploring our current projects to produce and supply Lithium to the domestic US market and the rapidly emerging Asian markets, particularly China. It's with constant efforts such as this that we hope very soon to develop ourselves into one of Americas leading Lithium exploration companies."
PAYMASTER PROJECT: NEVADA, USA
On March 15th, 2010, AmeriLithium announced it had recently executed a definitive agreement thereby acquiring 100% of the assets of the Paymaster Project, Paymaster Canyon, Esmeralda County, NV. This totals approximately 80 separate contiguous claims in this prime Lithium-mining region.
AmeriLithium's domestic Paymaster Project represents approximately 80 claims adjacent to the Clayton Valley playa, where Lithium-rich brines and evaporates have been accumulating for more than 30,000 years, resulting in the highest Lithium content found in any brines tested by the US Geological Survey (USGS) in southwestern US playas and basins(1).
Clayton Valley is also home to the only US-based Lithium producing plant. The plant has been in production since 1967, producing an estimated 50 million kg (55,000+ tons) of Lithium to date from the region's rich brines(2).
The Paymaster Project itself is surrounded by the Montezuma Range and mountain ranges containing Tertiary rhyolites (the volcanic equivalent of granite) considered to be the most Lithium-rich rhyolites in the world(4). The movement and evaporation of the region's water replenishes Lithium-rich clays, Lithium inclusions in halite (naturally occurring salt), and economic grades of brine-based Lithium considered to be in the 100 to 300 ppm range(3) with the USGS indicating some concentrations in the Clayton Valley area reaching as high as 1,000 ppm(5).
AMERICANA PROPERTY: ALBERTA, CANADA
On March 17, 2010, AmeriLithium announced it had recently executed a definitive agreement thereby acquiring a 100% NRI (Net revenue Interest) in the assets of the Americana Property in Alberta, Canada.
The Americana Property is one of the largest claims if its type in the region, representing ~664,049 acres overlying a potential extension of the Leduc Formation and Beaverhill Lake Group strata/Swan Hills Formation. These two formations were identified by the Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) as containing formation waters containing potentially economic amounts of Lithium(6).
The AGS recommended further analysis of the formation waters for Lithium, stating that the Lithium contents are similar to those of the only US-based Lithium plant in Clayton Valley, Nevada(7).
The total resource estimate for potentially economic Lithium present in the two formations is 567,690 tons(6), which is approximately 69% of the 826,000+ tons of Lithium estimated to exist in Clayton Valley, Nevada (I.A. Kunasz of the American Institute of Mining, 1975)(8).
The AGS singled out formation waters containing high concentrations of dissolved Lithium where rock porosity and permeability would allow production. In the Leduc Formation, reef thicknesses exceed 980 feet in places (based on 88 existing wells and 3,768 core analyses), while the carbonate platform in the Beaverhill varies in thickness from over 490 feet in the south to roughly 160 feet in the northwest (based on 183 existing wells and 18,256 core analyses).(6)
AGS findings on both formations show concentrations exceeding 100 mg/l with a maximum concentration of 130 mg/l occurring in the Beaverhill Lake formation.(7)
Knowledge of the Lithium-rich brine waters beneath west-central Alberta came indirectly from the region's oil and gas industry activity, including three major gas processing facilities originally owned by Chevron, BP Amoco and Petro-Canada collectively.
WAGIN SALT LAKES PROPERTY: WESTERN AUSTRALIA
On March 22, 2010, AmeriLithium announced it had recently executed a definitive agreement thereby acquiring a 100% NRI (Net Revenue Interest) in the assets of the Wagin Salt Lakes Property in Wagin, Western Australia.
AmeriLithium's three Australian plays cover 43,000+ acres around and abutting Lake Dumbleyung, where a 2007-2008 survey for Reward Minerals Ltd reported the presence of salt lake brine with a Lithium concentration of 530 mg/liter(9) (by way of comparison, the only US-based Lithium producing plant – operated by Chemetall Foote Corporation in Nevada – originally began operation at 400 mg/liter).
Lying within Western Australia's South West Mineral Field, the AmeriLithium plays represent an area identified as benefitting from a pro-mining Australian government stance and legislation; rich in brine deposits while having established infrastructure to support the transport of extracted Lithium; and ideally situated for export to emerging Asian markets and particularly China, whose manufacturing economy accounted for around 1/3 of Lithium demand in 2008.
AmeriLithium currently holds three exploration licenses for the region, comprised of 55 graticule blocks. All holdings are located within a 15.5 mile radius of Lake Dumbleyung, being placed upon salt lake systems with favorable drainage systems.
Major neighboring Australian players include Reward Minerals Ltd and Venus Resources Ltd, both having declared an interest in the Lake Dumbleyung region after carrying out surveys and testing of the area that identified the high soluble Lithium values in brine deposits as well as the potential for Lithium-bearing brines from draining Archaean granites at the western confluence of an extensive catchment area.
A significant portion of future demand for Lithium will originate from the emerging Asian markets. In 2009, worldwide sales of mobile phones – a major usage of Lithium batteries – was estimated at one billion units, around 600 million of which were produced in China. And with an ever-expanding consumer electronics industry manufacturing cameras, laptops, games consoles and now hybrid/electric motor vehicles, China's multi-billion dollar market represents an unparalleled opportunity for Lithium export.
MORE INFORMATION
More information on AmeriLithium's portfolio of projects, and additional information regarding the Company, can be found at AmeriLithium's corporate website www.amerilithium.com along with the facility to sign up for regular news updates.
ABOUT LITHIUM: Lithium is a lightweight metal used in a wide range of consumer products the world over: the medical industry uses Lithium as an anti-depressant; industrial uses include glass, ceramic and porcelain enamel manufacture; the aviation industry uses Lithium in alloys. Of particular interest is the use of Lithium for battery production, which has expanded significantly in recent years due to rechargeable Lithium batteries being used increasingly in electrical tools and in the rapidly expanding portable electronics market. Furthermore, the next generation of hybrid and electric vehicles are being designed to use high-capacity Lithium-ion batteries as environmentally-friendly fuel alternatives while the Obama administration has introduced $5 billion in funding and incentives for the development of a secure, domestic battery industry with special focus on Lithium-ion batteries.
ABOUT AMERILITHIUM: AmeriLithium is a publicly traded (NASD OTC BB: AMEL), mining company committed to progressively developing into one of the leading American players in the global Lithium industry. The Company is headquartered in Lake Tahoe, NV. AmeriLithium has amassed a Lithium portfolio consisting of ~710,000 acres, including a Nevada-based project adjacent to the only Lithium producing plant in the US, a large project in Alberta, Canada, and a project in Western Australia.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
AmeriLithium Corp.
Matthew Worrall, Chief Executive Officer
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Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. AmeriLithium Corp. bases these forward-looking statements on current expectations and projections about future events, based on information currently available. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release may also include statements relating to AmeriLithium Corp.'s anticipated financial performance, business prospects, new developments, strategies and similar matters. AmeriLithium Corp. disclaims any obligation to update any of its forward-looking statements, except as may be required by law.
1 NI 43-101 Technical Report by Coast Mountain Geological Ltd for Rodinia Minerals Inc, Mar. 12, 2009
2 Rodinia Minerals Inc website, Feb. 25, 2009
3 PM Placer Mineral Claims report, GeoXplor Corp, Nov. 25, 2009
4 MacDonald et. al; 1992 (as cited in GeoXplor Corp report, Nov. 25, 2009)
5 Clayton Valley Lithium presentation, GeoXplor Corporation
6 Resource Estimates of Industrial Minerals in Alberta Formation Waters. Alberta Geological Survey, Jan. 31, 1995
7 Industrial Mineral Potential of Alberta Formation Waters. Alberta Geological Survey, 1995
8 Rodinia Minerals Inc website, Feb. 25, 2009
9 Reward Minerals Ltd Press Release, Aug. 26 2009
SOURCE AmeriLithium Corp.
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