Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/113113
LEFT: Energy Fuels Resources (USA) Inc.���s White Mesa Mill in Blanding, Utah, the only fully-licensed and operating conventional uranium mill in the United States. White Mesa also has a co-recovery circuit to produce vanadium from Colorado Plateau ores. Photo courtesy of Energy Fuels Resources. playa sediment samples have revealed highly-anomalous lithium values, ranging from 55.7-298 parts per million (ppm). The results show stronger values near the western and eastern edges of the playa. Avalon Rare Metals Inc. [AVL-TSX, NYSE MKT] holds the Separation Rapids Project, which hosts the Big Whopper pegmatite, the fourth example in the world of a rare metal pegmatite and only the second to be enriched in the rare lithium mineral called petalite. The project is located 70 km north of Kenora, Ontario. A drill campaign conducted in 1997-98 delineated a NI 43-101-compliant indicated petalite resource of 8.9 million tonnes and an inferred petalite resource of 2.7 million tonnes, both grading 1.34% Li2O (lithium oxide), 0.007% Ta2O5 (tantalum pentoxide) and 0.30% Rb2O (rubidium oxide). Canada Lithium Corp. [CLQ-TSX; CLQMF-OTCQX] is in the commissioning phase of its open-pit, lithium carbonate mine and on-site processing plant at the Lacorne Township, near Val d���Or, Qu��bec. Estimated capacity for the project is 20,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of battery-grade lithium carbonate. On January 31, the company announced that the commissioning of its mineral plant���s processing sections were on schedule, with the operation to come fully on stream by Q4 2013. On January 9, the company unveiled a three-year off-take agreement with Marubeni Corp., a Japan-based trading company. Under the agreement, Marubeni will purchase a minimum of 2,000 tonnes battery-grade lithium carbonate in 2013, with the option to increase the figure up to 5,000 tonnes by 2015. The deal follows a five-year off-take agreement announced in November 2012 with Tewoo-ERDC for an initial uptake of 12,000 tpy battery-grade lithium carbonate, starting in 2013. Dajin Resources Corp. [DJI-TSXV] wholly-owns concessions in the Salinas Grande and Guayatayoc salt lakes basin, northwest Argentina that includes an 83,000-hectare boron-lithium-potash prospect. However, the company���s recent focus MARCH 2013 has been centred on its British Columbialocated gold and gold-copper projects. First Potash Corp. [FSP-TSXV] holds 10 brine properties in the Atacama region, Chile. Cumulatively, they cover over 22,000 hectares of mineral concessions. The company formally changed its name from Pan American Lithium Corp. on November 26, 2012. One of the reasons for the shift in focus to potash stems from the awarding of Chile���s lithium concession to Sociedad Quimica y Minera [SQM-NYSE]. Although this decision was subsequently overturned, pending a full resolution, First Potash felt that the commercialization of the lithium sector in Chile had become ���less clear than ever.��� Longerterm, the company still hopes that the Chilean government will reach a solution relating to lithium rights. Galaxy Resources Ltd. [GXY-ASX] operates lithium production facilities, hard rock mines and brine assets in Argentina, Australia, Canada and China. On November 22, the company���s lithium carbonate plant in Jiangsu, China, reported two fatalities after a pipe ruptured in its sodium sulphate crystallization section. During the subsequent shutdown, safety investigations have been undertaken and modifications made. Production from October 1 until November 21 stood at 245 tonnes battery-grade lithium carbonate and 469 tonnes technical-grade lithium carbonate. The plant is expected to come back on stream in February. On January 18, it was announced that the East China Mineral Exploration & Development Bureau was withdrawing an AUD $66.2 million (US $68.3 million) proposed investment in Galaxy. It may reconsider its decision once the Jiangsu plant is back on stream. Golden Virtue Resources Inc. [GVRTSXV] changed its name from First Lithium Resources Inc. in October 2012. The company holds interests in the Godslith lithium project in Manitoba and the Valleyview lithium project in Alberta. On August 30, 2012, the company terminated an agreement with Ashburton Ventures Inc. [ABR-TSXV] through which it could earn an 80% stake in the Nevada-located Teels Marsh lithium project. International Lithium Corp. [ILCTSXV] is strategically partnered with Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd., which holds a 17.41% stake in the company. During 2013, International Lithium will start a drill campaign and enter the bulk sample phase at its Mariana lithium-potash-boron project in Salar de Llullaillaco in Salta, Argentina. It is also considering a program to install test evaporation ponds and a pilot plant. Meanwhile, the company���s latest drill campaign at its Mavis Lake lithium and rare metals project in Ontario was recently completed. Results and analysis will be released once the data becomes available. International Lithium has also drawn up a 2013 drill campaign for its Blackstairs rare metals project in Ireland. Li3 Energy Inc. [LIEG-OTCBB] is developing the Maricunga Project, northeast Salar de Maricunga in northern Chile. Li3 is strategically partnered with South Koreabased Posco, from which it secured a second $10 million tranche of investment during 2012. It also unveiled an NI 43-101 technical report on the project���s in situ measured resources; effective April 9, 2012, these equate to 107,850 tonnes lithium metal and 776,250 tonnes potassium. In September, as part of a Posco���s consortium, the company was runner-up in Chile���s first ever auction of lithium production quotas and licenses (SQM was declared the winner). The Posco consortium subsequently challenged the process and, on October 1, it was declared invalid. Pending the Chilean government���s final decision, Li3 is considering the purchase and development of grandfathered properties that are not subject to the lithium exploitation permit. This shift will secure the company rights to exploit lithium in Chile. Lithium Americas Corp. [LAC-TSX] is developing the Cauchari-Olaroz lithiumpotash project in Jujuy, Argentina. On www.resourceworld.com 9