Friday 30 October 2015

China’s Ganfeng Reaches Out To International Lithium To Help Secure Their Supply Of The Green Technology Metal.


  Joe Lowry has shared with us today his insider's view into "The Opaque Lithium Kingdom." He expects the demand for lithium to jump 88% in the next five years. You can check his latest thoughts about "a  full blown shortage situation" and Ganfeng's place among Lithium Majors now.  We are just making this rEVolution happen at International Lithium with our strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium $1.7 Billion market cap giant from China.  
  It is time to talk about the people behind the scenes of rEVolution, who are working very hard to  make the Green healthy future for your kids possible with the development of Clean Power and Lithium Technology at its foundation. Our CEO Gary Schellenberg has assembled unique and very deep technical team at ILC. You have already met our VP of Exploration John Harrop. Today is time for you to meet our COO Anthony Kovacs. He is running the development of all our projects on the three continents and now two of them have become J/Vs and financed by the giant from China Ganfeng Lithium, which is Strategic Partner of International Lithium and is holding 17.5% stake in ILC.
  Anthony has over 20 years experience in mineral exploration and development.  He began his career as a geophysicist conducting ground and airborne surveys and advancing computer modelling methods to visualise targets in 3D. He became a Project Geophysicist for Anglo American (Canada) where he specialised in nickel, copper and platinum group element deposits in numerous exploration projects around the world. Before joining ILC, Mr. Kovacs also held senior roles with Pacific North West Capital and Adriana Resources where he was Exploration Manager during the early development of the Lac Otelnuk Iron Project, Quebec (now in feasibility studies). He was also Managing Director of Vanadis Mines Oy, a subsidiary of Adriana Resources advancing the Mustavaara Vanadium Project in Finland, currently undergoing feasibility studies. Mr. Kovacs is a consultant to the minerals industry with significant community relations experience working on industrial minerals, ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals and precious metals projects throughout North America, Europe, South America and Africa.
  Now Anthony is running all our development programs with Ganfeng Lithium in Ireland and Argentina and with our VP of Exploration John Harrop preparing our Mavis Lake Lithium and Tantalum project for the new strategic partnership to take ILC to the next level. Today I will present his latest thoughts on geopolitical aspects of international cooperation in the development of supply for lithium - the green technology metal.


Anthony Kovacs

Mr. Kovacs has over 18 years of experience in mineral exploration and development. Before joining ILC he held senior management roles at Pacific North West Capital Corp. and Adriana Resources Inc. Mr. Kovacs is a consultant to the minerals industry having prior experience on industrial minerals, ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals and precious metals projects throughout Canada, Europe, Mexico and Africa.



International Lithium Corp. - A Green-Energy Metals Company.




  "I have written extensively about International Lithium and our strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium. Our J/Vs in Argentina and Ireland are financed by this giant from China and we have very important access to the technology. Basically we are building the secure supply chain for Ganfeng Lithium using their expertise in raw materials needed for production of battery grade lithium from the very beginning. Our brine bulk sample from Mariana is being tested at Ganfeng state-of-the-art R&D facilities in China and in Ireland we have identified 22 exploration targets. Now, according to our latest NR, we are waiting for the approval of the budgets for both projects to be rapidly advanced after very encouraging results were received from the last exploration stage this year.
   Today I would like to show you another side of International Lithium. We have the very strong technical team headed by our CEO Gary Schellenberg. Anthony Kovacs - our COO and John Harrop - our VP of Exploration are among very few top level exploration managers and geologists in lithium sector. This Team depth has allowed International lithium to attract Ganfeng and strike two major J/V deals in all our industry. These days we are getting the first fruits of this very hard work. Coming volume shows that market is waking up and we are receiving at least some recognition of the value we have been building all these years. 
  I am talking a lot about the security of lithium supply and Tesla Lithium Hydroxide Supply Deal is another proof and was noticed by market overnight. Now venture capital is knocking on all doors chasing the upstream supply chain for electric cars and Energy rEVolution. 
  We have another great project at International Lithium: Mavis Lake Lithium And Tantalum Project which is located in mining friendly Canada in the area with excellent infrastructure and very encouraging initial exploration results with high grade Lithium and Tantalum. It will be our next strategic advance for the company. With J/Vs moving forward we are looking for the strong Strategic Partner to develop this project for the potential supply of this strategic commodity for the ongoing Next Industrial rEVolution. West will wake up one day to the fact that China has managed to control now not only over 90% of REE production, but 75% of Battery Grade Lithium Hydroxide as well. 
  Security of Supply means exactly this - Security. When the price is taking the second consideration and availability of critical materials is taking the central stage. My personal mission is to make this Security happen for the Western world for real as well, even if this part of the World still lives by HFT rules and Q by Q performance reflecting the coming bonuses. Our Asian friends are beating us all here with the state-level plans looking for The Next Fifty Years and building new strategic industries like Electric Cars in China.
  We have Elon Musk, we need more like him, but it is a very good start. Our strategic partner for Mavis Lake is waiting somewhere in between of latest Q performance reviews. If you know the one - you know whom to call. Now I do not have really to explain any more What Is Lithium For - Elon Musk has made the great job and every single Tesla Model S is the best moving ad of the things to come. All cars will be electric and it will be very soon. And by the way any new hard rock mine for Lithium will take 5-7 years to build Lithium brine operations will take 4-5 years at best. 
  Why International Lithium? You can check presentation above. Read more."


International Lithium: Mavis Lake Lithium And Tantalum Project, Canada.



  


  With lithium in the headlines these days I would like to present International Lithium's  Mavis Lake Lithium and Tantalum project in Canada. Our J/V projects with Ganfeng Lithium: Avalonia in Ireland and Mariana in Argentina - are better known, but Mavis Lake presents another very important opportunity for advance of potential source of conflict free strategic commodities in politically stable Canada.

  



Ganfeng Increases Stake In Avalonia Lithium Project, Ireland And Finalizes Exploration Loan Agreement With International Lithium For Mariana Lithium Project, Argentina.



 "Mr. Kirill Klip, President, International Lithium Corp. comments, “The restructuring of our loan facilities with strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium provides ILC with financial relief and access to capital through the long term Exploration loan. In Argentina, all political candidates running in the upcoming elections are echoing the importance of mining and foreign investment to that country, something I view as very positive for our Mariana project. In Europe there is a growing concern that emissions standards are not being met with the clean diesel scandal paving the way for electric cars powered by lithium batteries. This gives our Avalonia project in Ireland strategic importance. Together with Ganfeng Lithium we continue to work towards supplying lithium as a raw material for clean power technologies in Europe and around the world.”







China’s Ganfeng Reaches Out To International Lithium To help Secure Their Supply Of The Green Technology Metal.




Anthony Kovacs

COO
International Lithium Corp.

I am part of a small group of geoscientists that traditionally search the globe for rich mineral resources like copper, gold, nickel and zinc. Now we find ourselves at the forefront of what could be termed a green energy revolution and look to mine lithium.

Lithium is a vital ingredient in rechargeable batteries that power everything from cell phones to electrical grids, but its use is soon to find explosive growth in the electric and hybrid electric vehicle markets.

International Lithium Corp., (ILC) a venture capital corporation or “junior miner”, is developing lithium projects on three continents.






As Chief Operations Officer at ILC I would like to share some of the unique challenges faced by our company that is trying to develop two different types of lithium deposits on different continents with a partner that is not a mining company, but a lithium product manufacturer from China.

As a mineral exploration group with seasoned geoscientists we are accustomed to working in rugged terrain, foreign lands and in a multitude of languages and cultures. Cultural adaptation is challenging, especially if you have no working knowledge of the local language, but it is one of the more pleasurable and fascinating aspects of our work. Our interaction with locals can be limited, limiting our ability to learn and assimilate the local culture. To make matters worse our work sites are usually located in remote areas and our principle contacts might be geoscientists from a distant part of that country, leaving us with hybrid knowledge of the local culture.

Our partnership with Ganfeng Lithium has brought new operational challenges forcing us to develop new expertise. It is one thing to go to a foreign country, not understand a foreign language and expect to find your way around in the bush. But it is a whole new experience merging ideas of vastly different corporate cultures and educating a product manufacturing company to the Wild West style of grass roots mineral exploration.





The one thing that keeps coming back to me is that we have the same goals. Our success is their success and vice versa. This commonality helps us get through some of the more subtle yet important issues that may get lost in translation. Getting our feet on the ground together helps us to recognise there is a human on the other side of that confusing message in my inbox. And it is more important to understand the concerns our partner has when it comes to extracting, refining and transporting the raw material than making a big discovery as would be the case for junior exploration companies on the hunt for gold or copper.






I believe that the threat to the future supply of lithium due to increased demand from the energy storage industries is not necessarily based on scarcity of the metal but rather on what partnerships manufacturers and mining exploration companies can forge, combined with the geo-political location of their deposits. For International Lithium, we were able to choose projects in countries with a good reputation for being mining friendly and socially and environmentally conscience at the same time recognising that the projects are in a favourable location for easy access to transportation and developmental infrastructure. This could be one reason why our partner sought to get involved in these projects. Another could be that we have demonstrated our ability to work in foreign lands, in harsh conditions with a foreign partner. Regardless of the reasons, the future of clean transportation and energy storage is dependent on lithium, among other critical elements, and ILC will be there to help our current and future partners in their search.



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