Below is the post. "I want to do a quick post about some news...

Below is the post.

"I want to do a quick post about some news from @anson_ir $ASN ASN.AX, but it touches on a topic I feel is often overlooked and worth a few print inches.

For investors in a lithium project, the first things they usually look at are the partnerships, followed by the technology. For those invested in a DLE project, for some it’s the technology first, because logically, that’s what brings the partnerships. But an often overlooked aspect of these projects is the need for community outreach and public relations—not just to counter misinformation and gain public trust, but also to head off frivolous lawsuits by environmental ambulance chasers.

When it comes to lithium extraction projects, social media is flooded with exaggerated or outright false engagement-style posts. One would think heading to a lithium project site is like walking into Mordor. That’s where community outreach and local municipal agreements come in. Laying out the real risks and the actual benefits to the community won’t eliminate the misinformation entirely. Nothing will. But gaining the approval and support of the local community is more important than any commercial partnership announced in an MOU or LOI, because without that support, there’s no project.

Their DLE project is based on Koch Technology Solutions’ Li-Pro platform. I’ve written before about that platform and the lithium aluminum layered double hydroxide they use as a sorbent. One of the major benefits of using that type of sorbent is that they can just use plain old water to flush the lithium out, while other platforms may require an acid or a combination of reagents. While this may increase the initial water load needed for the project, with an industry average of greater than 80% recovery and recycling of that water, this is easily offset and is exactly the kind of information that community outreach would convey to local residents.

Anson Resources clearly gets this. They’ve signed a Community Benefit Agreement with the Green River City Council. The agreement sets up training programs to ensure the 50 to 100 jobs expected from the project go to people from the surrounding communities. This is to say nothing about the short-term jobs that will be created during construction and the local tax revenue and increased sales for local small businesses the project will generate.

They also secured a scaled royalty agreement with the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA). It ranges from 1% to 5% depending on the price of lithium carbonate. This replaces the previous flat 5% royalty proposed. As the price of lithium carbonate recovers, the rate goes from 1% to 2.5% when the price exceeds $12/kg, then increases by 0.5% for every $10 above $15, up to a max of 5%. The lower royalty at the start gives them more breathing room in the early stages when margins are going to be tight or even negative. This also gives them the added ability to help maintain a positive margin when the price of lithium is manipulated down even when demand is up.

Neither of these agreements would have happened without a concerted effort from Anson Resources to prioritize community outreach and ensure that the project’s success is shared with the people who live there."