Ganfeng Lithium reached another significant milestone in its global expansion in Africa and confirmed the progress of the development of its giant Lithium projects in Argentina. Shanghai Metals Market reports: "The Mariana lithium salt lake project is expected to begin trial operations by the end of this year, with capacity ramp-up planned for next year." TNR Gold shareholders deserve this Christmas present and we look forward to receiving a lot of positive news from Argentina in the new year!

“Last year we repaid our investment loan in full, and our Company has no debt. We believe that the recent market prices of our shares do not properly reflect the underlying value of the shares. Our transformation from the project generation junior mining company into the cash flow generating royalty company will bring the necessary catalyst for the market valuation of our assets."

"It is reported that in addition to the Goulamina spodumene project, Ganfeng Lithium's Cauchari-Olaroz lithium salt lake project in Argentina is progressing smoothly in its capacity ramp-up, having reached approximately 80% capacity utilisation rate. The Mariana lithium salt lake project is expected to begin trial operations by the end of this year, with capacity ramp-up planned for next year.

Regarding the future trend of lithium prices, Ganfeng Lithium recently stated that lithium carbonate prices have been highly volatile due to changes in market supply and demand. The company remains optimistic about medium and long-term demand in the lithium industry and expects lithium carbonate prices to gradually return to a reasonable range. Currently, lithium prices are still at a low point and may maintain a fluctuating trend next year. However, several mines in Australia have gradually reduced or ceased production due to lithium ore prices reaching cost pressure levels.

The company anticipates that the supply-demand relationship will improve next year, making it unlikely for lithium prices to continue declining significantly from a fundamental perspective. From a global perspective, domestic demand growth appears relatively more certain, while overseas demand faces uncertainties due to factors such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the US presidential election transition." (Shanghai Metals Market)

We are building The Green Energy Metals Royalty and Gold Company. TNR Gold is plugged into Tesla Energy rEVolution with our Royalty Holdings on the Mariana Lithium Project with Ganfeng Lithium, Los Azules Copper, Gold and Silver Project with McEwen Mining and Batidero I and II Properties of Josemaria Copper-Gold Project with Lundin mining.

The links below provide more information about TNR Gold's Royalty portfolio, potential valuations of our NSR Royalties, and how the Mariana Lithium Project is moving into the production phase in Argentina.

Proactive:

TNR Gold eyes royalty payments from Ganfeng’s Mariana Lithium Project

Emily Jarve

"TNR Gold Corp (TSX-V:TNR, OTC:TRRXF) CEO Kirill Klip joined Proactive to discuss Ganfeng Lithium’s reaffirmation that it plans to commence production at the Mariana Lithium Project in Argentina by the end of 2024.

TNR holds a 1.5% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on the project, including a 0.15% NSR royalty held on behalf of a shareholder.

Addressing lithium market trends, Klip highlighted a resurgence in electric vehicle sales in China and rising demand projections.

Proactive: Let’s start with the latest news. Ganfeng Lithium reaffirmed its plan to commence production at the Mariana Lithium projects in Argentina by the end of the year. That’s good news on this side.

Kirill Klip: We have this wonderful set of news coming from Argentina for TNR Gold shareholders. As you know, we are building the green energy metals royalty and gold company. TNR Gold holds a royalty on the entire Mariana Lithium project in Argentina. Ganfeng Lithium released their interim report, in which they stated they are focusing on advancing the construction of Mariana Lithium. This construction is going smoothly, and they are anticipating putting it into production by the end of this year. For TNR Gold, it’s extremely important and wonderful news. We are moving from a small junior mining company with a project-generating business model into, hopefully, a cash-flow royalty company status with this news that Ganfeng Lithium has plans to start production at Mariana Lithium by the end of this year.

Take us through Ganfeng Lithium’s expansion plans in Argentina.

This is another very important part of the very positive set of news for us. At the recent mining lithium company conference in Argentina, Jason Luo, the president of Ganfeng subsidiary Litio Minera Argentina, shared a very interesting perspective on the development of Ganfeng’s business in Argentina. They are planning to invest another $3.2 billion. They already invested $2 billion, and they would like to double the capacity of Mariana Lithium in the future. Today, we are talking about 20,000 tonnes of lithium chloride produced annually, so we can start dreaming about doubling the capacity into the realm of 40,000 tonnes of lithium chloride per annum.

We’ve talked about this before but it’s worth discussing again. That is the bold, pro-business reforms taking place in Argentina, which I suppose open the way for investments like Ganfeng’s.

Yes, you are very right, pointing out to all investors these very important developments in Argentina. The pro-business plan developed by the president of Argentina allows this kind of very impressive investment. The plan, in rough English translation, is called a large foreign investment incentive regime. It’s very important for all development in Argentina, particularly for Ganfeng and now the Mariana Lithium project. This is part of the package presented by Salta to the federal government.

Here we are talking about very important fiscal and financial incentives, including tax optimization and foreign exchange regimes allowing repatriation of capital from Argentina. These new rules will hopefully be set in stone for another 30 years. With this stability, giant mining companies or lithium companies like Ganfeng can really start making significant investments in Argentina and develop new projects.

As Ganfeng prepares for production from Mariana Lithium, how’s the market looking at the moment? Is the lithium market showing signs of life?

This is another very important piece of the puzzle for the development and transformation of our company, TNR Gold, into a cash flow positive, royalty-generating company.

We now see signs of life, as you mentioned, coming from China. Earlier this year, we experienced dampened sales of electric vehicles worldwide, including in China during the summer. However, sales are now back on an exponential parabolic curve in China. We just celebrated a milestone—10 million electric vehicles produced and sold in China. BYD, the largest Chinese company in this space, has eclipsed Tesla in worldwide sales. What’s notable is that BYD also exceeded Tesla’s revenue in the last quarter. Despite selling much cheaper vehicles, they managed to generate more revenue than Tesla, partly due to the BYD Seagull priced below $10,000. This marks a transformation in the lithium market.

I believe it will be supercharged by the trend of selling cheaper electric vehicles. Albemarle, the largest lithium company in the world, recently reaffirmed that lithium demand must increase 2.5 times—from 1.3 million tonnes this year to 3.3 million tonnes by 2030. To meet this demand, 100 new projects like Mariana Lithium are required. This is impossible with current lithium prices, as many operators are producing lithium below breakeven. We expect much higher lithium prices, which bodes well for the development of our royalty stream from Argentina’s Mariana Lithium with Ganfeng Lithium.

Quotes have been lightly edited for clarity and style"