Resource World Magazine

J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 7 www.resourceworld.com 37 (hard rock) represent the two main sources of commercial lithium production. Roughly 90% of lithium brines are produced from operations in Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. Investor interest in the sector is related to the increasing application of recharge- able lithium-ion batteries, particularly in the automotive sector, as well as the impact on demand of battery manufactur- ing plants that are being built by Tesla Motors Ltd. [TSLA-NASDAQ] and others. Metallic Minerals Corp. [MMG-TSXV] is a growth stage silver and gold explora- tion company, with a focus on the Keno Hill silver district in Canada's Yukon Territories. The Keno Hill area has produced over 200 million ounces of high-grade silver from 40 mines. The company has said it hopes to create value through a disciplined entrepreneurial approach to exploration, one that reduces investment risk and increases the probability of long term suc- cess. Its 112.5 km 2 Keno Hill silver project is adjacent to Alexco Resource Corp.'s [AXR-TSX] high-grade Keno Hill opera- tions, which host 67 million ounces of silver. Metallic's other key property is the McKay Hill Project, which is located 50 km north of the Keno Hill Silver camp and covers 30 km 2 . NextSource Materials Inc. [NEXT- TSX; NSRC-OTCQB], formerly Energizer Resources, has revised Phase I of its mine development plan for its 100%-owned Molo graphite project on the island of Madagascar. The feasibility-stage project, is one of the largest known and high- est quality flake graphite deposits in the world, hosting a NI 43-101 compliant combined graphite resource of 141.28 mil- lion tonnes (Mt) at 6.13% total graphitic carbon (C), with a contained ore reserve of 22.44 Mt at 7.02%C. The road-accessible Molo Project is 220 km from the Port of Ehola at Fort Dauphin which will be used by the company for shipping purposes. An updated Feasibility Study led to the revision of the mine plan. The new Phase I mine plan will now comprise the construction of a fully operational and sus- tainable graphite mine with a permanent processing plant capable of producing approximately 15,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of high-quality flake concentrate with a mine life of over 20 years, a significant increase from the original Phase 1 mine plan. Subject to funding, Phase 1 could be completed in approximately six months and will include equipment procurement, off-site modular fabrication and assembly, factory acceptance testing, module dis- assembly, shipping, plant infrastructure construction, onsite module re-assembly and commissioning. Phase II of the mine plan will consist of the expansion to a fully operational mine capable of producing 53,000 tpy of finished flake graphite concentrate. This expansion will be predicated on market demand for Molo flake graphite during Phase I production and will comprise additional mine build-out infrastructure, including construction of a tailings dam facility. n

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