UncleTaff
9 years ago
Great article, published today...
http://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/jul/26/where-i-stand-tesla-faraday-can-be-electrifying-ne/
Tesla, Faraday can be electrifying for Nevada‘s future
By Brian Greenspun (contact)
Sunday, July 26, 2015 | 2 a.m.
Tesla, Faraday. There is a pattern coming together, and it looks like Nevada could be the pot into which the future of electric travel and electric power is melded.
We all know about the incredible all-electric car that bears the name of pioneering electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. Nevadans also know about Tesla’s under-construction lithium battery plant near Reno that promises to change the way we think about batteries and how we drive our cars and power our homes and businesses with them.
Nevada, the land of mining, gaming and distribution centers that have powered our economy since the latter half of the 20th century, has been moving slowly but inexorably toward the new world economy — that which will light our way well into and through the 21st century.
Ever since UNLV, through Brookings Mountain West and the Lincy Institute, has been turning out “what if” scenarios — what if Nevada did this, how would it pan out, how many jobs would be created, how much better off everyone who lives here would be — it has become increasingly apparent that we can build our futures in the Silver State on more than just gaming and mining. High tech is the answer. That is why every state is pushing STEM education, because turning out science, technology, engineering and math experts not only helps our states grow but helps our country compete against countries around the world that, frankly, are doing a better job in the STEM education area than we are.
The news from Reno about Tesla is old. Now we’ve got news emanating from Southern Nevada that will reinforce this state’s movement toward a high-paying, advanced-technology future.
Some of it comes from North Las Vegas, about a little-known electric car company called Faraday Future, a name that harks back to another electrical pioneer, Michael Faraday. It is looking at North Las Vegas as a potential manufacturing base for affordable electric cars that will be mass-produced in the next three to five years. North Las Vegas is in the running with a handful of other sites because of its central location in the Southwest and, I assume, its proximity to Southern California, which is a large market as well as a gateway to Pacific Rim consumers.
North Las Vegas also is in the running, presumably, because Nevada has shown a willingness to lure large, high-tech employers by offering tax incentives and other sweeteners. If you question what I mean by that, I refer you to the Tesla battery plant.
I know a lot about Tesla. I have been a fan and an owner of a Tesla car for a few gas-free years. It is the real deal, and Elon Musk is the kind of entrepreneur any state should want to accommodate as a leader in high-tech, high-paying and high-impact jobs that will make of Nevada practically an overnight success.
I know little about Faraday Future, except that state economic development and North Las Vegas officials believe what Faraday is proposing makes a great deal of sense for Southern Nevada. So, assuming that Faraday is real and the Apex site — where NLV wants to create the manufacturing zone for the car manufacturer — is doable, the question remains: What do we have to do to get Nevada from being one of four potential sites on the list to the only place standing?
Just look, once again, at Tesla.
Nevada, which perhaps for the first time recognized what it could have if it landed the Tesla battery plant, put on a full-court press. The private sector, the public sector and the Legislature — through a special session called to sweeten the economic pot sufficiently to win the race — all came together in a way that I haven’t seen for three decades and got the job done. It was a lovefest once the stakes became known, with Southern Nevada interests pulling every bit as hard as, or harder than, their Northern counterparts to get the deal done.
Now it may be our turn. As good as Tesla is and will be for the state, Faraday has the potential to dwarf the job creation and economic impact of the battery plant because building the entire car has a significantly more robust multiplier effect. In short, we could be talking about the beginning of a 21st-century, high-tech version of Detroit, where, 100 years ago, Henry Ford decided to mass-produce the Model T.
The special session Gov. Brian Sandoval called to make the deal with Tesla spoke loudly about the need in Nevada for annual sessions. Life changes fast these days, so, unless we want to be forever hoping the governor will call a special session when the need arises, we should consider having lawmakers meet a few months of every year.
If Apple can develop a new phone every six months and Tesla can develop new automotive technology every few months, it seems obvious that this state needs to be in a better position to respond to the opportunities that will most certainly come our way.
I digress. But only long enough to encourage the leaders of Nevada to ascertain the value of a Faraday Future to the future of Nevada and, specifically, Southern Nevada. If it is as real as it sounds, then the governor and the economic development teams — north and south — should pull out all the stops and get the deal done.
The jobs of the future and our success going forward can be inextricably tied to the electrifying names of the past.
Tesla and Faraday, in our beloved gaming parlance, can be a real pair to draw to!
Brian Greenspun is publisher, editor and owner of the Sun.
Contrarian58
9 years ago
I've never put much stock in the "Tesla's up the road" methodology of valuation. It's likely that before spending billions to build a factory, Testla had at least some of the supply locked up. Lithium is a global market, and there are plenty of people that will be building batteries and electric or hybrid trains, cars, motorcycles, and bikes. I think the Abermarle acquisition is a far better barometer of the potential value of the resource. In fact, I would be surprised if Abermarle didn't try to gobble up PEM soon. Given their proximity, it would almost seem that they are "drinking from the same milkshake." Abermarle clearly thinks that lithium has a bright future. Given that they already have infrastructure next door, acquiring a major interest in PEM would seem to be a bargain, given what they're already spending.
The other key driver for lithium demand, in my opinion, is the transition towards distributed energy supplied by intermittent sources, mostly rooftop solar. Net Energy Metering (NEM), the regulatory scheme under which it has been implemented in the U.S. (nowhere else of course) is reaching its limits (more financial than physical) and the utilities want to kill it. That means that people who want solar will likely have to install storage as well, rather than having the utility accept their daytime over-production. Since it's not feasible to tell people what they can and can put on their roof, or in their own house, particularly when the alternative is a high-priced monopoly provider, there are going to be more and more people who effectively go "off-grid." They may have to pay a ridiculous minimum to stay on the grid (a requirement of most mortgage issuers) but they won't be buying much from the utility. Solar City is already offering this product and pretty much every other provider has something similar in the works. It won't all be lithium-ion, but the economies of scale favor it, given what will be happening in transportation. People have been talking about the inevitability of this happening for at least twenty years.
UncleTaff
9 years ago
Largest Lithium Deal Triggered by Smartphones and Teslas
by Jack Kaskey
July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Surging demand for high-performance batteries triggered the largest-ever deal for lithium, the lightweight metal that’s a key component of the power systems in smartphones, electric cars and cordless screwdrivers.
Albemarle Corp. agreed yesterday to pay $6.2 billion in cash and stock for Princeton, New Jersey-based Rockwood Holdings Inc., the biggest producer of lithium.
Consumption of lithium doubled in the decade through 2012, and is growing even faster now. Albemarle expects demand to increase as much as three times faster than the global economy, with consumers demanding more mobile devices and electric vehicles becoming more common.
“The growth of lithium, if you look at the proliferation of electronic materials, it’s powered by the lithium-ion battery,” Albemarle Chief Executive Officer Luke Kissam said in an interview. “And certainly automotive will be a big growth opportunity.” He expects a sharp increase in demand starting in about 2017.
Rockwood is the largest of four companies that control about 90 percent of the market for lithium, and they’re all bullish. Chile’s Soc. Quimica & Minera de Chile SA, known as SQM, expects demand to grow at 7 percent to 10 percent a year.
Batteries in cars and trucks will be one of the key drivers. Fully electric vehicles contain 44 pounds of lithium carbonate in their battery packs, compared with just one ounce in a notebook computer, Rockwood said in March.
Rapid adoption of electric vehicles may double lithium sales for batteries between 2013 and 2017, then double them again by the end of the decade.
Tesla Gigafactory
Tesla Motors Inc. the electric vehicle maker led by billionaire Elon Musk, is planning a battery “gigafactory” that may consume as much as 17 percent of current lithium output, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in February. The $5 billion plant will double global production of lithium-ion batteries using raw materials sourced in North America, according to Tesla.
Rockwood produces lithium by evaporating brine from salt ponds in Chile and Nevada, the only U.S. source of the metal. Albemarle, based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has been working since 2011 on cost effective ways to extract as much as 20,000 tons of lithium a year from its bromine salt ponds in Magnolia, Arkansas. The acquisition may accelerate its efforts to start up a second U.S. source.
“To have the world’s leader working with your team certainly will expedite that process,” Kissam said.
Lithium Consolidation
The acquisition is the latest example of consolidation in the highly concentrated lithium industry. It outpaces Chengdu Tianqi Industry Group Co.’s C$673 million ($624 million) purchase last year of Australia’s Talison Lithium Ltd., owner of the world’s largest open-pit lithium mine.
After Chengdu Tianqi outbid Rockwood to buy Talison, it agreed to sell a 49 percent stake in the mine to Rockwood.
Talison, Rockwood, Philadelphia-based FMC Corp. and SQM control about 90 percent of worldwide lithium production, according to Jefferies & Co.
Albemarle agreed to pay $50.65 in cash and 0.4803 of a share for each Rockwood share. That values Rockwood at $85.53 a share, or 13 percent more than the July 14 closing price, the companies said in a statement.
Largest Deal
This deal is the largest takeover of a diversified chemicals company since Solvay SA bought Rhodia SA in 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It will add to Albemarle’s cash earnings per share in the first year, according to the statement. Albemarle expects about $100 million in cost savings by 2016.
“It appears that Albemarle shareholders are getting a deal,” John McNulty, a New York-based analyst at Credit Suisse, said in research note yesterday. “With no exclusivity agreement in place and a ‘for sale’ sign officially on Rockwood with only a minimal premium, we believe there may be other potential bidders.”
McNulty, who recommends buying Rockwood shares and doesn’t rate Albemarle, didn’t identify any companies that may make competing bids.
BASF SE, the world’s largest chemical maker, would find Rockwood an attractive target as a pure-play lithium company, Jana Partners LLC and First Analysis Corp. said separately last year. DuPont Co. also would be interested, First Analysis has said, as would SQM, according to Jana.
DuPont declined to comment on bid speculation, while SQM and BASF didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Competing Bid?
The deal undervalues the lithium business, James Sheehan, an Atlanta-based analyst at Suntrust Robinson Humphrey Inc., said in a report today. Still, antitrust concerns make a competing bid from others in the industry unlikely, as Rockwood controls more than half the lithium supply, said Sheehan, who rates Rockwood hold and doesn’t rate Albemarle.
There’s also a risk that shareholders could reject the deal because Rockwood may have gotten a higher price if it had held an auction, Mike J. Ritzenthaler, a Minneapolis-based analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos., said in a note today.
“We would not be surprised to see the more activist-minded holders of Rockwood shares campaign for a competing bid, thereby complicating, and potentially elongating or aborting, the process,” said Ritzenthaler, who rates Albemarle hold and doesn’t rate Rockwood.
Rockwood, under former CEO Seifi Ghasemi, sold assets that make titanium-dioxide pigment, clay-based additives and ceramics to focus the company on lithium as well as surface treatments used to clean metal and prevent corrosion. Ghasemi stepped down last month to lead Air Products & Chemicals Inc.
“As we watched them continue to divest those businesses and become a pure-play lithium and surface-treatment company, it became increasingly interesting,” Kissam said.
UncleTaff
9 years ago
Tesla's Road To Lithium....
And why Pure Energy's 8000 acres next to Silver Peak will soar in value once Tesla lithium sourcing officially confirmed...
http://seekingalpha.com/article/2484825-teslas-road-to-lithium
Summary
•Tesla's GigaFactory being built in Nevada will use huge quantities of battery-grade lithium carbonate.
•Securing a reliable lithium carbonate source is critical to Tesla's future profitability.
•The Nevada-Tesla deal contains a small item with large implications for Tesla's lithium supply.
•This also exposes synergy in Albemarle's pending acquisition of Rockwood Holdings and BASF's rumored interest in acquiring Albemarle.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) investors are counting on the company producing large numbers of the Model III mass market electric car, and doing so with greater efficiency and at lower cost than the Model S. Tesla's future profitability depends heavily on producing this mass market car at low cost in order to maintain operating margin.
Key to Tesla's plan for achieving high volume and lower costs is their GigaFactory - a single, vertically integrated battery factory larger than all the world's current battery plants combined. By integrating battery manufacture - from raw materials through completed cells and battery packs - Tesla hopes to gain cost advantage over competing electric car makers. In fact, they are counting on it.
Without large quantities of high performance, low cost batteries from the GigaFactory, Tesla cannot achieve their Model III production and profitability goals. This means any risk to GigaFactory completion or to materials supply is a risk to Tesla growth and profitability - and a huge risk to the value of Tesla shares. For this reason investors should be mindful of Tesla's progress building the GigaFactory, and lining up sources and suppliers for critical battery materials. Let's see if Nevada's incentive package can tell us something about GigaFactory plans and progress.
(click to enlarge) Sketch by author
Tesla Model III (sketch by author))
A road to somewhere...
An obscure element of Nevada's incentive package offers a glimpse into Tesla's supply plans for lithium, perhaps the most critical ingredient in lithium ion cells. It seems, that as part of their incentive package Tesla got a new road. Not a long road, and a road located in the middle of nowhere. Here is what Tesla's Nevada incentive package includes.
(click to enlarge) (Source, Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development - annotation, author)
Excerpt from "Teslas_Gigafactory_Incentive_Summary", NV Gov. Office of Econ. Dev. http://www.diversifynevada.com/documents/Teslas_Gigafactory_Incentive_Summary_PDF.pdf
What this road (actually road extension) does is connect the GigaFactory to US50, often called "The Loneliest Road in America". To understand why this little piece of road matters to Tesla and their GigaFactory, one needs to understand a bit of Nevada geography. And a bit about a particular Nevada mine, the company that owns that mine, the company that is buying the company that owns the mine, and yet another company rumored to be thinking about buying the company that is buying the company that owns the mine. Having fun yet?
This mine is, of course, a lithium mine. Except that it really isn't a mine at all. There is no tunnel into a mountain or even a hole in the ground from which lithium ore is dug out. Instead, lithium containing salty water (brine) trapped in an aquifer beneath a desert dry lake, is pumped from wells, and put into ponds to concentrate by evaporation. Concentrated brine is then processed to obtain lithium carbonate, key input material for making lithium ion batteries.
Oh, did I mention that this is the largest lithium mine in the United States? Well, it is, and it is located in Silver Peak, Nevada. A quick trip to Google maps will now show us why Tesla's little piece of road matters.
That little segment of road included in Nevada's incentives for the GigaFactory shortens the route that lithium carbonate will travel on the way to Tesla, if they will be getting their lithium from the mine at Silver Peak.
The Silver Peak lithium mine has a history. At a time, the mine was owned by Foote Minerals, then sold to Cygnus, becoming the Cygnus-Foote mine. Cygnus-Foote was acquired by Chemetall, turning it into the Chemetall-Foote mine.
Chemetall was subsequently acquired by Rockwood Holdings (NYSE:ROC) and Chemetall's lithium business became Rockwood Lithium, though this time the name of the mine didn't change. Rockwood supplies lithium carbonate from mines in Chile and from the Nevada Chemetall-Foote mine. If this were the end of our story about a lithium mine passed from one mining company to another, Tesla's road extension would suggest no more than that Tesla's lithium carbonate supplier for the GigaFactory would likely be Rockwood Lithium. We would be left with another rather dull 'Tesla tidbit'.
Fortunately for investors anxious for titillating Tesla news, the story of the GigaFactory, the road and the lithium mine goes on and on, and becomes more interesting for investors. You see, Rockwood Holdings has agreed to be acquired by Albemarle (NYSE:ALB) for a combination of cash and stock, with the transaction due to close early next year.
Albemarle paid very well for Rockwood and Albemarle investors aren't happy with this acquisition. I think they are wrong. To understand why disgruntled Albemarle investors should be happier (and ALB fetching a higher price), one needs to look at Albemarle as a total company, and at the part they might play at the GigaFactory.
You see, Albemarle isn't like the previous owners of the Chemetall-Foote lithium mine. Albemarle is a "chemicals and catalyst" manufacturer, not historically a mining company. The combination of volume catalyst manufacturing (similar to manufacture of lithium battery anode and cathode materials) and lithium supply, positions Albemarle to be among the electrode materials suppliers at Tesla's GigaFactory. No mining company without precision chemical materials processing could ever be a supplier of electrode materials. A precision materials supplier without a captive source of their key ingredient could not offer assured supply and stable pricing at the scale the GigaFactory will require.
Acquisition of Rockwood uniquely positions Albemarle to be a GigaFactory electrode material manufacturer, not just a mine on the road to Tesla's lithium supply. This strategic move, if carried through, will join Albemarle and Tesla "at the hip" and deliver Albemarle shareholders an enormous upside opportunity.
Conclusions
A minor component of Nevada's incentive package for Tesla's GigaFactory suggests Tesla will use lithium carbonate from the Chemetall-Foote mine at Silver Peak, Nevada. This is good news for Tesla, the GigaFactory and Tesla stockholders because it indicates Tesla is, quite literally, on the road to locking down their lithium supply.
The pending acquisition of Rockwood Holdings and the Chemetall-Foote mine by Albemarle creates a potential GigaFactory battery materials supplier uniquely positioned with both precision chemical manufacturing capability and a large scale, captive lithium supply. The Rockwood acquisition is a strategic master-stroke for Albemarle that for the moment seems under-appreciated by investors.
But, our story doesn't end here. It appears I'm not the only one who sees outsized potential in Albemarle. There is a rumor chemical giant and lithium battery materials supplier BASF (OTCQX:BASFY) is looking to buy Albemarle. I wonder, will they change the name of the mine?
UncleTaff
9 years ago
Lithium, New Tech and Pure Energy
Posted on July 17, 2015 by Peter Clausi. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. One company that gets this concept is Pure Energy Minerals Ltd. of Vancouver (TSXV: PE), which is focusing on more efficient lifecycle solutions for lithium supply in North America.
The flagship project is a lithium brine project in Clayton Valley, Nevada. In the cities of Reno and Las Vegas, financial energy gets converted to fun and loss of memory. Located halfway between those two cities is Clayton Valley, which has hosted mining activity dating back to the 1860s. It is here that Pure Energy has over 8000 acres of placer mining claims contiguous to the only lithium production facility in North America. Pure Energy is looking to convert those claims into revenue for its shareholders.
Pure Energy sees Clayton Valley as being surrounded by lithium-enriched Tertiary rhyolitic tuffs, lithium-bearing sediments, and an active geothermal system. Geologically the lithium mobilized from these sources to be deposited into the groundwater. The dry climate concentrated the groundwater by evaporation into hypersaline lithium-rich brines which are hosted mainly within the more porous parts of the basin.
Pure Energys claim block extends for 12 kilometres to encompass the deepest sections of the valley, and is contiguous to the only producing lithium mine in North America. A Clayton Valley cross section and gravity survey are here.
Conventional lithium extraction techniques are expensive, harmful, and inefficient. Too much energy is wasted in the process, resulting in higher costs and less margin for the shareholders. This old technology, developed in the 1960s, requires extensive evaporation ponds (4000+ acres) to concentrate the brines prior to processing, resulting in significant and valuable quantities of water being evaporated away into the desert atmosphere. These ponds are expensive to build, recover less than half of the available lithium, and require an 18-24 month process cycle to deliver product.
Pure Energy is embracing novel technologies that are potentially capable of producing customized high-grade lithium products at costs below that of hard rock, clay or existing brine facilities. These new processes are attractive because they are environmentally friendly, highly efficient (capable of extracting >99% of lithium from brine), weather-independent, and have a process time of hours not years.
Clayton Valley brine is currently being tested at POSCOs lithium research facility in South Korea and at Tenova Batemans lithium research facility in Israel. Pure Energy expects that its lithium brines, coupled with recent technological advancements in processing, will outperform hard rock and clay sources on cost, sustainability and permitting.
Pure Energy has an experienced management team with backgrounds in finance, exploration, geoscience, lithium processing, permitting and construction. These varied backgrounds will be vital to helping Pure Energy convert its assets into a win for the shareholders.
UncleTaff
9 years ago
Apple Hires Another Auto Industry Veteran: A Sign of an Electric Vehicle in the Works?
Naturally I am biased towards Pure Energy, with company defining news due any day and 8000 acres next to Rockwood's Silver Peak mine, but this whole sector is going to 'light up' soon...
Apple Hires Another Auto Industry Veteran: A Sign of an Electric Vehicle in the Works?
Everyone is trying to figure out what the hire says about Apple’s mysterious automotive program.
Julia Pyper
July 21, 2015
A new clue has emerged supporting speculation that Apple is secretly building an electric car. The tech giant recently hired Doug Betts, an executive from Fiat Chrysler who’s spent nearly 30 years in the auto industry and has expertise in manufacturing.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the hiring of Betts yesterday:
Doug Betts, who led global quality at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV until last year, is now working for the Cupertino, Calif.-based electronics giant but declined to comment on the position when reached Monday. Mr. Betts’ LinkedIn profile says he joined Apple in July and describes his title as “Operations-Apple Inc.” with a location in the San Francisco Bay Area but no further specifics.
Apple declined to comment on the new hire. It’s not immediately clear whether he is part of the company’s car initiative or if he will work on an existing product line.
Along with Mr. Betts, whose expertise points to a desire to know how to build a car, Apple recently recruited one of the leading autonomous-vehicle researchers in Europe and is building a team to work on those systems.
Prior to his seven years spent at Chrysler, Betts spent more than a decade leading vehicle manufacturing divisions at Toyota and Nissan, and his LinkedIn page references his “core knowledge of lean manufacturing.” While his Apple “operations” title doesn't say much about his actual role, Betts' experience suggests the company is interested in car production.
Earlier this year, CEO Tim Cook avoided questions about a possible partnership with electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors. Some believe Apple should buy Tesla outright. But Cook has revealed little about Apple's automotive plans, saying that the company is squarely focused on CarPlay, its in-car infotainment system that integrates iPhone features like messaging, music and maps into a vehicle’s dashboard.
“I'd love Tesla to pick up CarPlay," Cook said, when a shareholder pressed him on whether or not Apple would buy Tesla at a company meeting earlier this year. "We now have every major auto brand committing to use CarPlay. [...] Was that a good way to avoid the question?”
While Cook is staying quiet, Betts’ hire signals that Apple could be taking on a more manufacturing-heavy role. This is underscored by a number of other recent Apple hires with experience in the battery business and hardware engineering.
Earlier this year, sources told Bloomberg that Apple was looking to start production of an electric vehicle as soon as 2020. The initial design, under project code name “Titan,” is similar to a minivan, one source told The Wall Street Journal. Apple has reportedly hired hundreds of people to work on the electric-vehicle program.
The move could throw Apple in the middle of a race between Tesla and General Motors, which are both planning to build a long-range electric car at a competitive $35,000 price point.
Apple’s advantage could lie in its mastery of making sleek, user-friendly consumer electronics. But are those skills transferable to building a complex moving machine? And even if they are, is it a wise business move?
Vehicle manufacturing is capital-intensive. Tesla has struggled with the cost realities of mass-producing a car. Plus, while overall auto sales have been strong in the last couple of years, there are concerns about future growth given that millennials are foregoing car ownership -- and driving altogether.
Enter the autonomous vehicle. Rather than build a car from the ground up, Apple could be looking to control cars from the inside out.
Several big Silicon Valley firms have already moved into autonomous vehicles development. Google’s self-driving cars are on the roads in several states, Musk has said Tesla cars will be fully autonomous in three years, and Uber has opened a test facility in Pittsburgh to develop an autonomous taxi fleet.
Apple seems eager to get in the game. Earlier this year, it hired Paul Furgale, former deputy director of the Autonomous Systems Lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, who previously led a European Commission project to develop self-parking vehicle technology.
Today’s major tech companies clearly see the transportation industry as a huge opportunity. At this early stage, however, it's less clear which brand will dominate.
Apple and Tesla are already locked in a battle for the best talent -- will they be locked into a battle to build an autonomous electric car?
UncleTaff
9 years ago
Good luck to all holders, here are some basic Some basics I've compiled the following from company website and newsletter.
Pure Energy Minerals Ltd. (V.PE) is a well-financed lithium brine exploration and processing developer
- Flagship lithium brine project in Clayton Valley, Nevada:
- over 8,000 acres: approx 10km long by 2km wide.
- is contiguous to the only producing lithium mine in North America, Rockwood/Albemarle’s Silver Peak Mine.
- Silver Peak = 2,300 acres. (Rockwood recently acquired by Albemarle for $6.2billion)
- Tenova Bateman Technologies – LiSX Lithium Extraction Process:
- achieved Lithium extraction efficiency of 100% (relative to conventional extraction efficiencies ranging from 40-60%)
- the purity of the produced LiCl, a precursor to the manufacturing of battery-grade material, was greater than 99.9%.
- processing time measured in hours instead of conventional 18-24 month cycle for evaporation ponds
- capable of producing customized high-grade lithium products at costs below that of hard rock, clay or existing brine facilities.
- Extended and commercially-focused MOU executed with resource giant POSCO.
- Well financed
- OTC listed
- Experienced management team with backgrounds in finance, exploration, geoscience, lithium processing, permitting and construction.
- Regular company and industry updates via email, twitter, media articles / interviews
- NI 43-101 submitted to exchange for approval.
- Initial seismic and early drilling already demonstrate: that the mineralized zone intersected in Pure Energy's recent drilling campaign extends throughout Pure Energy's entire claim area, from the existing Silver Peak lithium operations southwards to include the new lithium placer claims recently acquired by Pure Energy. In addition, the mineralized zone appears to extend deeper than the base of the existing and historical exploration boreholes and maintains this thickness throughout the entire basin.
zigzagman
11 years ago
Pure Energy Minerals Identifies Large Gravity Low with Highly Conductive Layer on Alkali Flats Claims, Esmeralda County, Nevada
http://ih.advfn.com/p.php?pid=nmona&article=55998475
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 25, 2013 /CNW/ - Pure Energy Minerals (TSX VENTURE: PE) (the "Company" or "Pure Energy") is pleased to provide an update on the results of its geophysical Gravity and Controlled Source Audio-Magneto-Telluric surveys ("CSAMT/MT") (the "Surveys") over portions of the Company's Alkali Flats Claims in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
The general purposes of the Geophysical Surveys are to: map depth to bedrock, or thickness of sediments; map geologic stratigraphy and structure relative to the occurrence of lithium brine, identify conductors that are thought to be representative of lithium-bearing brine; and to provide information for the selection and design of additional geophysical surveys or the identification of drilling locations. Graphics of the interpreted Gravity and CSAMT/MT results and prospective areas will soon be available on the Company website, http://pureenergyminerals.com
The gravity and CSAMT/MT Surveys were completed by Arizona based Hasbrouck Geophysics, Inc. Hasbrouck Geophysics, Inc. has over 30 years of experience in all aspects of exploration geophysics including, field operations, data reduction, processing, display, interpretation and research and development.
A total of 61 separate gravity stations were acquired along four profiles at nominal station spacing's of 300 meters for a total of about 18.5 kilometers of line. The Surveys results confirm the presence of a large (approximately 15 square kilometers) closed basin in the center of the Alkali Flats Claims.
A total of 46 separate CSAMT/MT stations were set up along three profiles at nominal spacings of 150 and 300 meters within the identified closed basin. Electromagnetic data indicate a highly conductive layer at depths greater than about 200 meters and at least 2 kilometers wide with ranges in thickness from approximately 180 to 200 meters. This highly conductive zone dips approximately 10 degrees to the east and is truncated to the east by competent bedrock as interpreted from the gravity data. Lithium-bearing water moves through dipping aquifers until it reaches an impermeable barrier with corresponding higher brine concentrations near the barrier. The Survey results indicate a dipping, highly conductive aquifer and a barrier exist within the claim block.
Summary information and maps of the properties can be found on the Company's website at http://pureenergyminerals.com
This release has been reviewed and approved by Gerhard Jacob, M.Sc., EurGeol., Pure Energy Minerals Limited, Consulting Geologist - a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Pure Energy Minerals Ltd.
Pure Energy Minerals Limited is an innovative junior mining company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Company is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties throughout the world. Currently Pure Energy is focusing its efforts on lithium mining opportunities and related technologies. The Company's Alkali Flats Project in Esmeralda County Nevada represents a 7,040 acre claim block. The area is home to the only U.S. based lithium brine producing plant, the Silver Peak plant operated by Rockwood Lithium, Inc. The Silver Peak plant has been in production since 1967.
For further details about the Company and its projects please visit Pure Energy's website at: http://pureenergyminerals.com
Pure Energy Minerals Limited
On behalf of the Board
Jason Dussault - CEO
Investor Relations Contact
Phone: 604-608-6611 Ext. 5
Website: pureenergyminerals.com
Email: jeremy@pureenergyminerals.com
Source: Pure Energy Minerals Limited
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