Going off my previous post I have continued exploring adjacent lithium mines to AGY's Tonopah holding.
I've come across Pure Energy Minerals. Pure Energy Minerals holdings seems to be more similar to AGY's (brine not clay). As per the website: "Brine chemistry and hydrogeology shown to be very similar to the long-lived Silver Peak Mine" - much like AGY states. Pure Energy Minerals is a lithium resource developer that is driven to become a low-cost supplier for the growing lithium battery industry. Pure Energy has consolidated a pre-eminent land position at its Clayton Valley Project in the Clayton Valley of central Nevada for the exploration and development of lithium resources, comprising 948 claims over 23,360 acres (9,450 hectares), representing the largest mineral land holdings in the valley.
Location is in close proximity:
On their website they state "Amenable to multiple processing methods." As per the investor video below Pure Energy plan to use a new technology for extraction (note this video is from 2017)
Some of the many advantages of the TAT lithium recovery process include:
Residence time from brine to product in just hours
High lithium recovery Lithium purity > 99.9 %
Significantly reduced plant footprintProduction of saturated lithium solutions in one step
Lithium production economics is independent of by-products
Weather independent
Ability to simultaneously produce different lithium salts
Suitable even for dilute Li feed solutions (<100ppm)
Things get a little dicey for Pure after 2017 and things go quiet, most likely put on the back burner due to the crash in lithium prices and over supply.
Fast forward a few years: “Pure Energy is seeking a partner with technical and financial resources, the critical elements required to building the pilot plant and the future development of lithium production capacity at the CV Project.”
Along comes Schlumberger in 2019 "Schlumberger has entered into an earn-in agreement with Pure Energy Minerals Ltd that could see it become the 100% owner of a lithium brine project in Nevada, US. Pure Energy has granted subsidiaries of Schlumberger an option to acquire all of its interests in the Clayton Valley project in return for constructing, at its own cost and expense, a pilot plant for the processing of lithium brine."
"Pure Energy and its technical consultants have completed the basic design for the proposed pilot plant which could cost an estimated $15-$25 million. The company has received a water right from the Nevada Division of Water Resources to extract the lithium-bearing brine needed for operation of the planned pilot plant. The pilot plant design is being led by Tenova Advanced Technologies with significant contributions from SUEZ Water Technologies & Solutions, a business unit of SUEZ Group, and NORAM Engineering & Constructors. The facility at the project will be the first pilot-scale implementation of the Tenova Process in the world. This process is specifically designed to exclude solar pond evaporation, increase and accelerate lithium recovery, and reduce the associated environmental footprint of lithium production." https://im-mining.com/2019/05/02/schlumberger-eyes-nevada-lithium-brine-project/
I for one will be watching this closely to see how the Tenova Tech goes and Pure Energy in general. This seems to be the closest company to AGY's potential Tonopah development.
AGY Price at posting:
11.5¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)