Lithium Race: Inside The Gigafactory, Where Tesla Is Building Its Future.

  Now you can better appreciate the enormous scale of Tesla Gigafactory and Elon Musk's vision why all cars will be electric and very soon. Elon Musk has confirmed the most important information for the mass market for electric cars: he expects that cost of lithium batteries for Tesla Electric Cars will drop to $100 per kWh by 2020.  It means that Tesla Model 3 60 kWh lithium battery will cost ... only $6k! We can start seriously talking about my magic formula to make all cars electric: 20/200 when $20k buys you beautiful type BMW 2 electric car with a better performance and 200 miles range on a charge.

  Now you can put into perspective the piece from Goldman Sachs below and understand why the security of lithium supply is the new game in the energy sector. New Rockefellers with Chinese names are very busy building Vertically Integrated Lithium Empires already. And Warren Buffett is in "The Electric Billionaire Club" with Elon Musk as well among a few others.

Energy rEVolution: As Lithium Demand Grows, China 'Charged Up And Ready To Grow'.

   Tesla Gigafactory "Grand Opening" this week on July 29th has brought Lithium back into headlines. CNBC is pushing the story out after UBS and Goldman Sachs have endorsed Electric Cars and Lithium respectively. I will not be very cynical here, but you can get the drift. In my very personal opinion, there is NO Lithium underneath the Tesla Gigafactory floor. The Lithium Launch 2.0 will separate hype and daydreams from people with dreams and solid lithium projects advanced with strong major lithium end-users as strategic partners. Just always make your very own DD and otherwise the story is right: all cars will be electric very soon and powered by Lithium Technology. 

  I was very impressed during Benchmark Minerals Intelligence Battery Supply Conference hosted by UBS this June in London when UBS basically killed any hydrogen dreams left and pronounce that battery powered electric cars are the future for transportation. According to UBS just in a few years time, we will reach the cost ownership parity between electric cars and ICE ones powered by diesel and gasoline. It will be the major tipping point  and China is leading the way. Lithium X gained my respect after its presentation when they have stated that very substantial claims in Nevada are on hold and no investment is planned to advance them before the new lithium extraction technology for that region can be developed. There are enough known lithium resources to make all our transportation electric, lithium is even in the sea water - the trick is to extract it economically and in time to meet the rising demand. My very personal estimations are for 100% increase in the next 5 years and Goldman Sachs is talking now about lithium demand tripling by 2025. Now add here all the rumors about Electric Cars from Apple, Foxconn; and Jaguar Land Rover, BMW and  Ford being in talks about building their own lithium batteries "Gigafactory" to compete with Tesla.

  International Lithium goes with its strategic partners to the places where Lithium is and not just Tesla and its Gigafactory. Ganfeng Lithium is $4.5 Billion market cap giant from China with 19 patents and the only company able to produce lithium from both hard rock and brine sources. Ganfeng invests heavily in International Lithium and finances our two J/V s in Ireland and Argentina.  And the real lithium race is happening in China already where 25 companies are making 51 models of electric cars. 

International Lithium And Ganfeng Drill 4.62 M Of 2.33% And 10.65 M Of 1.07% Of Li2O At Avalonia, Ireland.

Race For Renewable Energy Technologies Charges Lithium Market. Chinese Lithium Leader Secures Supply Sources.

"Ganfeng has a strong commitment to supply Lithium product to various industries worldwide,” stated Ganfeng’s Director, Wang Xiaoshen, “so we clearly have a vested interest in these projects and have been very hands-on in the evaluation of ILC’s properties. Our company is the only one in the world that has commercial production capacities to extract Lithium from both brine and spodumene, and we continually implement cutting-edge technologies to our processes. I feel confident that this is a fit for our operations and the potential these projects hold."

Electric Cars rEVolution: Lithium Is The New Gasoline - Goldman Sachs' Bob Koort.

 "When UBS talks about coming parity for the cost of ownership of Electric Cars and ICE vehicles, people are listening.  When Goldman Sachs talks about Lithium investors will listen carefully as well. Here we have been talking about both subjects for years and, hopefully, you are ready for what is coming now. I will talk today only about a few numbers and the rest you can find below. The cost of lithium in the lithium battery is below 3% of the finished product. Goldman Sachs is talking about the tripling of lithium demand by 2025. All lithium market was around $1 billion dollars in sales in summer of 2015 with LCE prices at $6,000 per ton. Even after reports of some prices reaching as high as above $20,000 per LCE T in China this year we are talking here about the lithium market with total sales below $5 billion dollars. Now let's put it into the perspective of the funds under management by the people who are following Goldman Sachs and $12 trillion industries of Energy and Transportation being disrupted by the lithium technology. Watch the video."

Lithium 2.0 Launch: Security Of Supply - Galaxy Resources To Buy General Mining In Lithium Takeover.

  "This chart of lithium price in China is keeping awake at night very many people now in our very small industry. Quite a lot of them have totally missed the launch of Lithium 2.0 and now the security of supply is the major geopolitical issue. Tesla is still relying on Panasonic to supply lithium cells and a lot of people are relying on the "Lithium Found in Nevada" under Tesla's Gigafactory floor.

  Ganfeng Lithium: $4.5 billion giant from China is the strategic partner of International Lithium and now financing two of our J/V operations in Ireland and in Argentina. We are going where Lithium is and not just the hype around it. As we have discussed before, Lithium 2.0 is now for real as we have the real electric cars finally on the road and GM Bolt and Tesla Model 3 bring us mass market for electric cars.  Cheap lithium batteries change everything. Exponential growth in EVs sales is following by deployment of Energy Storage now.

  This Lithium M&A is pointing out another very important quality of Lithium 2.0 Launch: separation of dreams from the real people with the real projects, capital and technology to put them forward. There are only very limited number of quality lithium projects and even less capable teams with access to the capital and technology, like in the case of International Lithium and Ganfeng. Read more."

International Lithium And Ganfeng: Big Investment In Argentina - Anuncian Millonaria Inversión Minera Para Salta.

    

   I have a message for our followers, investors and stakeholders from Argentina. Our story is getting out now with the rapid advance of Mariana Lithium brine project in Salta. New approved budget of USD 12 million dollars for Mariana will make all the difference now on the way to a maiden resource being calculated and a pilot plant applications. Ganfeng Lithium is a $4.5 billion dollars market cap giant from China holds 19 patents for lithium products. This access to capital and the most advanced lithium extraction technology provides International Lithium with its unique position in order to develop our Mariana J/V to potentially produce the lithium product end-users like Ganfeng are using. 

  I was very pleased to meet recently with Argentine Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary R. Carlos Sersale di Cerisano in London at Argentina Investment Forum. Vladimir Werning Chief of Staff in the Finance Ministry and Member of the Board of The Central Bank of Argentina was very interested in our project as the positive example of his country coming back into normal business life. Now we have another major vote of confidence for the proud people of Argentina.

Ganfeng Lithium And International Lithium Approve USD 12 Million Budget To Accelerate The Mariana Lithium Brine Project In Argentina.

“Our combined perseverance over the last five years has culminated in this momentous milestone. We look forward with our strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium to the advancement of the Mariana Lithium brine project towards operational permitting” states Mr. Kirill Klip, President, International Lithium Corp. “This is a clear indication that our careful approach in identifying high quality projects at an early stage of development, whether they are brines or pegmatites, and sourcing strategic partners to assist in the development of these assets is proven successful. ILC intends to apply this approach and rapidly advance the Company’s portfolio of high quality lithium projects in this increasingly vital market segment.” Read NR.

International Lithium Discovers Deeper Aquifer At the Mariana Lithium Brine Project In Argentina, A Joint Venture With Ganfeng Lithium.

  We are very pleased to celebrate our 5th IPO anniversary with our strategic partner $4.5 Billion giant from China Ganfeng Lithium. These new discoveries at Mariana Lithium Brine J/V project in Argentina and at Avalonia Lithium Hard Rock J/V project in Ireland show International Lithium's very deep technical Team at its best, delivering the results  based on the advanced exploration technologies developed by ILC both for lithium brine and lithium hard rock projects. On behalf of all shareholders, I would like to thank all ILC Team and particularly Gary Schellenberg, Anthony Covacs, John Harrop, Bruno Kasper and Mike Sieb for these outstanding exploration results bringing Mariana and Avalonia projects to the new level of development.

Mr Kirill Klip, President, International Lithium Corp. comments, “The recent exploration results show that Mariana is exhibiting the potential to be a significant source of lithium brine. The joint venture project, together with Ganfeng Lithium will strive to acquire the necessary data to rapidly advance the project to a pilot plant testing facility. We are currently experiencing recognition in the capital markets as to the importance of lithium supply and Argentina comes to the forefront of jurisdictions that have the ability to develop a secure supply of lithium raw materials for electric vehicles and the increasing energy storage markets.”

International Lithium And Ganfeng Lithium Discover New Pegmatite At The Avalonia Lithium Project, Ireland.

 "We have another discovery at our Avalonia J/V project In Ireland with $4.5 billion giant from China Ganfeng Lithium."

 "Gary Schellenberg, CEO, International Lithium Corp. comments, "This programme was successful in both delineating further mineralization at one of the project's main lithium pegmatites, and testing earlier stage targets we have advanced along the belt. Developing the pegmatite at Aclare is a high priority, but we also firmly believe in the potential for significant undiscovered pegmatites along the entire 30-kilometre belt. We are particularly looking forward to returning to explore the extensive pegmatite boulder trains at Moylisha"

International Lithium At Wentworth 2016 Presentation.

CEO-Roaster With International Lithium Corp.: Building A Green Energy Metals Royalty Company.

  It took International Lithium 7 years of building its Lithium business and 5 years of partnership with Ganfeng Lithium: $4.5 billion market cap giant from China - to receive this acknowledgement to celebrate our 5th IPO anniversary: Watch the video."

Race For Renewable Energy Technologies Charges Lithium Market. Chinese Lithium Leader Secures Supply Sources.

"Ganfeng has a strong commitment to supply Lithium product to various industries worldwide,” stated Ganfeng’s Director, Wang Xiaoshen, “so we clearly have a vested interest in these projects and have been very hands-on in the evaluation of ILC’s properties. Our company is the only one in the world that has commercial production capacities to extract Lithium from both brine and spodumene, and we continually implement cutting-edge technologies to our processes. I feel confident that this is a fit for our operations and the potential these projects hold." Read more."

Please carefully read my legal disclaimer, nothing on this blog represents investment and/or tax advice. Please always consult your qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions. 

Informante Salta:

Anuncian millonaria inversión minera para Salta

El Proyecto Mariana de litio en Salta, obtuvo la aprobación de un presupuesto de 12 millones de dólares para acelerar los estudios de exploración y desarrollo del proyecto localizado en el Salar de Llullaillaco, cerca del límite con Chile.

Después de una reciente visita muy alentadora, ejecutivos de GFL e ILC revisaron y aprobaron una propuesta de presupuesto para completar los estudios técnicos definitivos. Estos estudios son fundamentales para la presentación de solicitudes de permisos ambientales para realizar pruebas a escala piloto de evaporación en el sitio del proyecto Mariana.

Para lograr esto, las compañías ampliarán el actual programa de perforación y el objetivo de tener un recurso para una parte del Salar de Llullaillaco en el otoño / invierno de 2016. Además, las empresas contratarán a los resultados de la reciente evaporación a escala de laboratorio y encalado prueba para diseñar y construir una serie de estanques de evaporación de las pruebas a pequeña escala en el sitio.

Hidrológica, la caracterización de acuíferos, y los estudios ambientales serán programadas para cumplir el objetivo de permisos, así como pruebas de bombeo corto y largo plazo.

"Nuestra perseverancia combinada en los últimos cinco años ha culminado en este hito trascendental. Esperamos con nuestro socio estratégico Ganfeng de litio, el avance del proyecto de salmuera de litio Mariana hacia una fase operativa", afirma Kirill Klip, presidente, litio Corp. Internacional. "Esta es una clara muestra de que nuestro enfoque cuidadoso en la identificación de proyectos de alta calidad en una etapa temprana de desarrollo, ya sean salmueras o pegmatitas, y que obtienen los socios estratégicos para ayudar en el desarrollo de estos activos, han sido exitosos. CIT propone avanzar rápidamente en una cartera de proyectos de litio de alta calidad de la compañía en este segmento de mercado cada vez más vital ".

Sobre Corp. Internacional de litio

Lithium Corp. International es una compañía de exploración con una cartera activa de proyectos, una fuerte identificación en gestión, el apoyo financiero robusto y un socio estratégico y la piedra angular de los inversores Ganfeng litio Co. Ltd., fabricante líder de China de productos a base de litio.

El enfoque principal de la Compañía es el proyecto de salmuera de litio-potasio Mariana, una empresa conjunta con Ganfeng litio Co. Ltd. dentro del "Cinturón de litio" sudamericano reconocido, que es el receptor de la gran mayoría de los recursos de litio a nivel mundial, las reservas y la producción. El proyecto Mariana abarca 160 kilómetros cuadrados, en una cuenca donde hay una rica evaporación del mineral, que se ubica como uno de los salares más prospectivos o "lagos de sal" en la región."

International Lithium And Pioneer Resources Discover Lost Pegmatite, Increase Claim Area By 80% And Execute Option Agreement At the Raleigh Lithium Pegmatite Project, Ontario, Canada

  International Lithium goes with its strategic partners to the places where Lithium is found and now is building the secure lithium supply for Energy rEVolution and Electric cars in North America.

International Lithium Corp. Options Raleigh Lithium Pegmatite Project, Ontario To Strategic Partner Pioneer Resources Limited.

Race For Renewable Energy Technologies Charges Lithium Market. Chinese Lithium Leader Secures Supply Sources.

“Our vision is to establish multiple deposits located in the same area with a central processing plant,” states ILC President Kirill Klip in an exclusive interview. “It will allow us to minimise the CAPEX and reduce operating expenses.”

“The future is electric,” confirms Klip. “The Tesla Model 3 booked 325,000 reservations in one week. ILC intends to seize this opportunity to advance the Upper Canada lithium project to meet the rising demand from electric cars and communication devices.”

International Lithium Corp. and Pioneer Resources Execute Option Agreement On Mavis Lake Project, Ontario, Canada.

“Our objective is to become a leading global developer of Lithium projects,” stated Gary Schellenberg, CEO of ILC, in an exclusive interview. “Our projects in Argentina and Ireland have attracted investment from big players, which has set the stage for our new Upper Canada project partnership with Pioneer Resources Limited of Australia.” ILC’s Mavis, Forgan and Raleigh projects in the Upper Canada Lithium Pool have fulfilled the company’s objective to acquire a multinational project portfolio, thereby decreasing geo-political risk for shareholders. 

International Lithium Corp. President’s Message.

"ILC is unique in that we not only have a very strong financial partner providing capital for our joint venture projects, but Ganfeng is also the end user. They have 19 processing patents and are the only lithium materials producer capable of working with both brine and spodumene sources of lithium raw materials. We are developing projects that will potentially produce the lithium source material they require for processing.  We are also applying the strategic partner model to our North American projects and are using the exploration knowledge gained at Avalonia in Ireland to build up our Upper Canada Lithium Pool projects."

International Lithium: New Discoveries With Ganfeng Lithium In Ireland and Argentina.

"We are very pleased to celebrate our 5th IPO anniversary with our strategic partner $4.5 Billion giant from China Ganfeng Lithium. These new discoveries at Mariana Lithium Brine J/V project in Argentina and at Avalonia Lithium Hard Rock J/V project in Ireland show International Lithium's very deep technical Team at its best, delivering the results  based on the advanced exploration technologies developed by ILC both for lithium brine and lithium hard rock projects. On behalf of all shareholders, I would like to thank all ILC Team and particularly Gary Schellenberg, Anthony Covacs, John Harrop, Bruno Kasper and Mike Sieb for these outstanding exploration results bringing Mariana and Avalonia projects to the new level of development."

Please carefully read my legal disclaimer, nothing on this blog represents investment and/or tax advice. Please always consult your qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions. 

Electric Cars rEVolution: Lithium Is The New Gasoline - Goldman Sachs' Bob Koort.

"When UBS talks about coming parity for the cost of ownership of Electric Cars and ICE vehicles, people are listening.  When Goldman Sachs talks about Lithium investors will listen carefully as well. Here we have been talking about both subjects for years and, hopefully, you are ready for what is coming now."

International Lithium:

International Lithium Corp. and Pioneer Resources Discover Lost Pegmatite, Increase Claim Area by 80% and Execute Option Agreement at the Raleigh Lithium Pegmatite Project, Ontario, Canada

Vancouver, B.C. July 26, 2016 International Lithium Corp. (the “Company” or “ILC”) (TSX Venture:ILC.V) is pleased to announce that strategic partner Pioneer Resources Limited (“Pioneer”) (ASX:PIO) has completed their due diligence and formally entered into an Option Agreement to advance through exploration the Company’s Raleigh lithium pegmatite project in Ontario, Canada (“Project”).  In addition, the companies have increased the size of the project to 809 hectares (2,000 acres) through staking.

Key Highlights:

• Preliminary reconnaissance discovers pegmatite obscured by beaver dam;
• Grab sample of host rock adjacent to beaver dam returns highest degree of lithium enrichment reported in the region to date representing intense rare-metals mineralizing system;
• Increase project size by 80% through staking to encompass extensive highly anomalous rare metals’ trends known to host high-grade lithium spodumene pegmatites.
• Raleigh Lithium Project Option Agreement executed with Pioneer; and
• Pioneer may earn an initial 51% interest in the Project by expending CAN$1.25 million on exploration activities within three years.

Raleigh Lithium Pegmatite Project

The Raleigh Project is situated 7 kilometres south of the Trans-Canada Highway, 60 kilometres southeast from the Company’s Mavis Project, 80 kilometres southeast from the town of Dryden, Ontario and approximately 240 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay.  Four unpatented mining claims totalling 368 hectares were recently staked increasing the Project area to 809 hectares.  The expanded claim boundaries now cover an extensive zone exhibiting multiple intensely anomalous bands known to host high-grade lithium pegmatites.

When rare-metal pegmatites are emplaced, the host rocks adjacent to the pegmatite body are enriched by the associated fluids forming an observable rare-metals’ halo.  Normally the rare-metal alteration halo is in the meter scale, but the pegmatite belt at Raleigh, similar to the Company’s nearby Mavis project, exhibit some of the most extensive lithium anomalies delineated to date in Ontario.

On a recent reconnaissance of the project by ILC and Pioneer representatives a pegmatite noted in historical records, but not explored by previous operators, was discovered.  The site of the pegmatite is obscured by a beaver dam, which may account for why previous operators overlooked it.  A grab sample* of the adjacent mafic volcanic host rock was sent to ALS laboratory for analysis and returned a lithium value of 0.49% Li2O (2290ppm Li).  This is significantly higher than any other lithium host-rock value reported in the region and indicates an intense mineralizing system, particularly to have altered and impregnated the host rock to such a degree.

* Grab samples are by definition selective and are unlikely to represent average grades on the property.

Previous exploration campaigns on the Project included mapping, lithogeochemistry, trenching (1500m) and diamond core drilling (2817.5m in 17 holes) resulting in the identification of several substantial pegmatites and numerous smaller ones (see Company news release dated March 23 and July 13, 2016, for further details).

Mapping and litho-geochemical sampling indicate a highly fractionated rare-metals’ pegmatite belt at least 5 km in length and 2 km in width now fully enclosed within the Company’s expanded claim boundaries.  The strength of the litho-geochemical signature in the host rock adjacent to known pegmatites will be a highly effective exploration tool to signal the location of hidden or blind pegmatites; pegmatites buried under soil cover or capped by another rock type.

Highlights of previously reported drill intercepts at Raleigh are summarized in the table below. The pegmatites are moderately dipping and appear to flatten at depth.

Hole ID	From (metres)	To (metres)	Width (metres)	Li2O %
RL99-05	108.95	115.40	6.45	1.62
incl	108.95	111.20	2.35	2.39
RL10-01	28.30	33.00	4.70	1.81
incl	29.80	32.00	2.20	2.37
	154.30	161.00	6.70	1.14
incl	159.00	160.00	1.00	2.86
RL10-02	84.00	93.00	9.00	2.80
RL10-03	103.05	109.00	5.95	1.64
RL10-05	24.40	34.00	9.60	1.03
RL10-06	123.00	128.70	5.70	1.03

All widths in drill core are drill widths and have not been adjusted to true widths.  The Company has not yet been able to confirm historical results compiled from assessment reports and news releases filed by previous operators.

Figure 1: Core samples from previously reported drill intercepts at Raleigh

Raleigh Option Agreement

• Pioneer may earn an initial 51% interest in the Project by expending CAN$1.25 million on exploration activities within three years and paying to ILC a total of CAN$250,000 in cash and shares 50/50 over the same three years (the “First Earn-in”).
• Following the First Earn-in, ILC will be granted a 1.5% Net Smelter Return royalty (“NSR”), purchasable at any time for CAN$1.5 million.
• Pioneer will then be granted, if ILC elects not to participate and if Pioneer elects to pursue, an option where Pioneer can earn an additional 29%, for a total 80% interest, by sole funding exploration expenditures and the production of a pre-feasibility technical report within 6 years from the completion of the First Earn-In. Thereafter the Parties will contribute on a pro-rata basis. If either Party dilutes to 15% Project Equity, their interest is converted to a 1.5% NSR.

The Upper Canada Lithium Pool

The close proximity of the Mavis and Raleigh projects presents clear strategic and operational advantages.  ILC is pursuing lithium prospects with reported high grades in this region and seeking to consolidate them with the aim to identify sufficient resources in multiple prospects to potentially feed a common processing facility.  The Upper Canada Lithium Pool is the anticipated geographical consolidation of projects and partnered companies hosting amenable grade, volume, access and infrastructure in order to mitigate the financial burden on any one company when advancing specific projects to reach this goal.

John Harrop, P.Geo, FGS, is a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101 who has supervised preparation of the technical information contained in this news release.

About International Lithium Corp.

International Lithium Corp. is an exploration company with an outstanding portfolio of projects, strong management ownership, robust financial support and a strategic partner and keystone investor Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd., a leading China based lithium product manufacturer.

The Company’s primary focus is the Mariana lithium-potash brine project, a joint venture with Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. within the renowned South American “Lithium Belt” that is the host to the vast majority of global lithium resources, reserves and production. The 160 square kilometre Mariana project strategically encompasses an entire mineral rich evaporate basin that ranks as one of the more prospective salars or ‘salt lakes’ in the region.

Complementing the Company’s lithium brine project are three rare metals pegmatite properties in Canada known as the Mavis, Raleigh, and Forgan projects; and one project in Ireland (Avalonia project) that encompasses an extensive 50km long pegmatite belt.  The Avalonia project is under option to strategic partner Ganfeng Lithium and the Mavis and Raleigh projects with strategic partner Pioneer Resources Limited (PIO:ASX).  The Mavis, Raleigh and Forgan projects together form the basis of the Company’s newly created Upper Canada Lithium Pool designated to focus on acquiring numerous prospects with previously reported high concentrations of lithium in close proximity to existing infrastructure.

With the increasing demand for high tech rechargeable batteries used in vehicle propulsion technologies and portable electronics, lithium is paramount to tomorrow’s “green-tech”, sustainable economy. By positioning itself with solid development partners and acquiring high quality grass roots projects at an early stage of exploration, ILC aims to be the resource explorer of choice for investors in green tech and build value for its shareholders.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Kirill Klip

President, International Lithium Corp.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release other than purely historical information, historical estimates should not be relied upon, including statements relating to the Company’s future plans and objectives or expected results, are forward-looking statements. News release contains certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in the Company’s business, including risks inherent in resource exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.