23rd Sep 2014 07:28
LONDON (Alliance News) - Rare Earth Minerals PLC said Tuesday that it has increased its shareholding in Nevada-based Western Lithium USA Corp from 2.29% to 3.02%.
Western Lithium USA Corp announced earlier this month that it has commenced calcination of its lithium clays at its pilot plant facility in Germany to demonstrate the viability of extracting lithium on a large scale from its lithium-rich clay deposit in Kings Valley, Nevada.
The US company said that it will now include a lithium hydroxide circuit to its planned production of lithium carbonate, to meet potential new industry requirements. WLC also stated that it is planning for annual production of up to 26,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate equivalent which would meet lithium demand for between 500,000 to over 1 million electric cars.
In a statement Tuesday Rare Earth Minerals said that it sees lithium hydroxide emerging as a chemical compound "of choice" for the growing high end lithium-ion battery market. "Lithium hydroxide is fast becoming important for lithium-ion battery manufacturers due to batteries made from this compound having longer life cycles, better power densities and enhanced safety features," said company Chairman David Lenigas.
Rare Earth Minerals already has a significant interest in the Sonora Lithium Project in Mexico, a similar but higher grade clay based lithium deposit to Western Lithium's Kings Valley Lithium Project, through its 11.9% shareholding in Bacanora Minerals Ltd and a direct 30% shareholding in both the Megalit and Mexalit joint ventures in Sonora, said the company.
The company's interest in both Western Lithium's Kings Valley and Bacanora's Sonora Lithium Projects provides Rare Earth Minerals with "exposure to two of the world's largest clay based lithium projects," said Lenigas.
In August the company said it had continued to make progress on each of its principal investments in Mexico, Greenland and Australia in the half-year to the end of June, posting a pretax loss of GBP647,000, widened from GBP323,000 in the previous year, as administrative expenses rose to GBP641,000 from GBP275,000. It is not revenue producing.
"The progress of the group over the last six months and subsequent period has continued at an excellent pace, and all of our key assets and investments continue to show results beyond our expectations," said Chairman Lenigas in a statement at the time.
Shares in Rare Earth Minerals were Tuesday morning trading 0.99% lower at 1.59 pence per share shortly after the market open.
By Alice Attwood; [email protected]; @AliceAtAlliance
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