announcement out, page-3

Just read it, should be available to all now.

And GREAT NEWS.......

RINCON SALAR UPDATE
Headlines
One tonne of lithium Carbonate produced at high grade from pilot plant
Monthly pilot plant production expected to be 10 tonnes per annum before expansion
Project finance proceeding according to timetable
Tender process for agency and sale of 10% lithium products completed first phase
The Board of Directors is delighted to announce that:
• The pilot plant at the Rincon was successfully commissioned on 20 December 2007
and is now operating above expectations for production volumes, with the first
production of lithium carbonate produced on 25 January 2008.
• This one tonne of lithium carbonate has been produced with a purity of 99.0+%
exceeding the expectations from previous research indicating that future processing
will enable production of high purity lithium products.
• The production boreholes from where the brines are extracted are performing above
their expected production capacity and have the properties to yield four times the
required volume for a plant in full production at 17,000 tonnes per annum.
• The Rio Grande Salar that was recently acquired is now entering into production and
we expect the first commercial output of sodium sulphate, a major input into the
production process, in May 2008 in advance of our scheduled production date.
• The pilot plant will reach a steady state continuous production in early April of 10
tonnes per month as planned giving the successful commissioning, we are
immediately implementing our expansion to a full size plant by trebling the size of the
ponds in the next three months.
• The initial operating costs which have not yet reached optimisation have been
contained to well below the market price for the products.
• Basic engineering for the full-scale plant is now complete and detailed engineering
and quotations for major items is underway.
• We continue to plan for full plant production in 2009.
• Project financing continues with legal diligence and engineering due diligence
underway.
• The company is implementing a strategic program for the identification and acquisition
of further mineral resources in the region. This project is being managed by Dr
Alonso.
We are now investigating by-products from lithium and magnesium hydroxide production with
the view to increase earnings from the existing production.