Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/99312
NYSE] produces lithium at its operation in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The Department of Energy made a $28.4 million investment in Rockwood Lithium to expand US capacity. The company recently opened its expanded manufacturing plant in North Carolina and will soon open their expanded plant in Nevada. Rockwell raised an additional $46 million in private sector funding. Simbol Materials announced, in September 2012, the start of commercial production of the world's highest‐purity lithium carbonate at its newly opened facility located near the geologically unique Salton Sea in Imperial Valley, California. It is the only advanced battery materials producer of its kind. Simbol Materials leverages brines from geothermal power production, using their proprietary separation technology to extract lithium, manganese, and zinc. The company has developed a proprietary technology that "seamlessly bolts onto existing geothermal power plants." The company uses a "geothermal brine reverse-osmosis process" that could eliminate the lengthy, conventional process used in brine operations. Construction of a plant in California is expected to begin at the start of 2013. NORTH AMERICAN LITHIUM PROJECTS Ashburton Ventures Inc. [ABR-TSXV] has DECEMBER 2012/JANUARY 2013 the Teels lithium prospect, located at Teels Marsh, Mineral County, Nevada, approximately 54 miles northwest of Clayton Valley. The Teels prospect is a playa deposit containing chlorides, sulfates, carbonates, bicarbonates and borates of sodium and potassium. An option agreement allows Golden Virtue Resources (formerly First Lithium Resources Inc.) to earn an 80% interest in the prospect. Avalon Rare Metals Inc. [AVL-TSX; NYSE] has the Separation Rapids property, ~70 km north of Kenora, Ontario by road. The property is host to the lithium-bearing Big Whopper Pegmatite (BWP), one of the largest complex-type, rare metal, pegmatite deposits in the world. The company plans to target markets in the glass and ceramics industry which are located in the midwestern and southwestern US. Channel Resources Ltd. [CHU-TSXV] is assessing its Fox Creek Project for its potential to produce industrial mineral products including lithium carbonate, salt, potash, calcium, magnesium, boron and bromine from the deep saline formation water that is currently being produced as a waste byproduct of natural gas production. The 369 km2 project is 30 km south of the town of Fox Creek in west-central Alberta. Golden Virtue Resources Inc. [GVRTSXV] (formerly First Lithium Resources Inc.) has the Godslith lithium project in Manitoba and the Valleyview lithium project under option to Lithium Eploration Group in Alberta. Lithium Exploration Group. [LEXGOTCBB] is a US-headquartered junior miner with a primary focus on developing their optioned Valleyview Project in northwest Alberta. The property is considered an advanced-stage lithium brine asset with historical resources and near-term production potential. Mesa Exploration Corp. [MSA-TSXV] has the Green Energy Project in Grand County, Utah which hosts a brine deposit containing 40% minerals, including lithium, potash, magnesium, boron and bromine. Mesa's Lithium Exploration Group is planning a work program to obtain modern brine samples for chemical analysis and metallurgical testing. Nemaska Lithium Inc. [NMX-TSXV] has the Whabouchi property located about 300 km from Chibougamau, Québec in a spodumene-bearing pegmatite zone located in the heart of the Lac des Montagnes belt. The company's Sirmac property is approximately 180 km northwest of Chibougamau. Nemaska recently completed a diamond drill campaign of 72 drill holes (3,414.5 m) on the Sirmac property with very good results. The company is working on a NI 43-101 resource www.resourceworld.com 47