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Lake Resources
Overview
The electric vehicle boom is unstoppable. Battery-powered cars could reach a 40 percent increase in global sales and the demand for lithium is expected to double to 1.5 million tonnes by 2027. The bullish outlook could be traced back to lithium-ion battery’s ability to charge faster and store higher power capacity in a lighter package.
Although Australia, Chile and China have long been the world’s top lithium producers for years, Argentina has now emerged at the forefront accounting for 21 percent of the world’s reserves. The country’s lithium mining pipeline consists of two that are currently operational, 13 planned and dozens under consideration.
Lake Resources (ASX: LKE,OTCQB:LLKKF) is a lithium development company focused on producing high-purity, sustainable lithium at a low cost from its four lithium brine projects in Argentina. The projects lie within one of the most sizable, wholly owned land packages amongst the largest players within the Lithium Triangle — home to 40 percent of the world's lithium supply.
Lake Resources has five lithium projects in the heart of the Lithium Triangle but is primarily advancing its wholly owned Kachi lithium project, approximately 100 kilometers south of the FMC Lithium (NYSE: LTHM) Hombre Muerto lithium brine production site.
In 2023, Lake Resources provided an update on the resource estimates in 2023. Additional drilling has upgraded and increased confidence in the resource in the central area of the salar, with measured and indicated (M&I) resources of 2.2 Mt of LCE defined, to a depth of 400 meters over 81 square kilometers. Surrounding the M&I resources are inferred resources of 3.1 Mt LCE defined over 117 square kilometers. The resource remains open to a depth of approximately 700 meters and opens laterally, where drilling is underway to better define the resource extent.
In February 2020, Lake Resources released a prefeasibility study (PFS) for its Kachi lithium project, which indicated an annual production target of approximately 25,500 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate using Lilac Solutions' direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology.
The study was based on Kachi's indicated resource of 1.01 MtLCE at 290 mg/L lithium. The study projects an operating cost of US$4,178 per tonne, totalling approximately US$544 million in total capital expenses.
Lake Resources has partnered with Lilac Solutions to build a direct extraction pilot plant at the Kachi project. Lilac Solutions has developed a proprietary ion-exchange technology for the extraction of lithium from brine resources. It’s capable of achieving high recoveries, at minimal cost, with rapid processing times, all while providing numerous environmental benefits — particularly water preservation. Katchi aims to provide the world’s cleanest lithium using its unique procedure.
The modular demonstration plant, designed and built by the engineering team at Lilac Solutions, was dispatched to the Kachi Project in Argentina in March 2022, after which Lilac began operating the demonstration plant for several months to produce lithium chloride (eluate) representing 2.5 tonnes of lithium carbonate.
As of December 31, 2022, Lilac has successfully operated the demonstration plant for 1,000 consecutive hours and produced 40,000 liters of lithium chloride eluate, meeting all key testing milestones outlined in Lake Resources' agreement with Lilac. The lithium chloride eluate produced by Lilac will be converted to lithium carbonate, after which it will be independently tested for purity.
Project Kachi is on track to move from its pilot phase into commercial-scale development after Lake Resources and Lilac Solutions announced the production of 2,500 kilograms of lithium carbonate equivalents (LCE). This successful result led Lilac to increase its ownership of the Kachi Project from 10 percent to 20 percent. The 2,500 kilograms of LCEs were extracted at Kachi with 80 percent lithium recovery, 90 percent plant uptime, 1,000 times less land compared with evaporation ponds, and 10 times less water compared with conventional aluminum-based absorbents.
Lake Resources has appointed Saltworks, an independent assay laboratory based in Canada, , to produce larger samples of lithium carbonate. Lake Resources has conditional framework agreements in place with SK On and WMC Energy for offtake. The terms provide each partner with 25,000 tpa, along with a 10 percent equity stake in Lake Resources.
The Cauchari and Olaroz lithium brine projects are adjacent to one another and are surrounded by major players such as Lithium Americas (TSXV:LAC), SQM (NYSE:SQM), Ganfeng Lithium, and Advantage Lithium (TSXV:AAL). Drilling at Cauchari has so far returned values up to 540 mg/L lithium on the project. Lake Resources hopes to prove that both projects are extensions of the neighboring projects.Company Highlights
- Lake Resources has four clean lithium brine projects in stable mining jurisdictions in Argentina.
- Projects are near major lithium brine properties operated by Livent (NYSE:LTHM), Lithium Americas, SQM, Ganfeng Lithium and Advantage Lithium.
- Lake Resources is developing a multi-asset Tier One producer, with lithium at 99.7 percent purity that aims to provide cleaner lithium for an electric world.
- Kachi property has a mineral resource estimate of 2.2 million tonnes (Mt) of contained lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) with 3.1 million tonnes inferred resource.
- Partnership in place with Lilac Solutions for direct brine extraction which entitles Lilac to earn up to 25 percent equity in the Kachi Project upon the completion of performance milestones.
- Working with Saltworks to produce large samples of its battery-quality lithium carbonate.
- Cauchari and Olaroz are structured as strategic extensions of neighboring resources.
- Lilac increased its ownership of the Kachi Project from 10 percent to 20 percent after producing 2,500 kilograms of lithium carbonate equivalents (LCE) at Project Kachi.
Key Projects
Kachi Lithium Brine Project
Lake Resources' wholly owned Kachi lithium brine project encompasses 36 mining leases that cover 69,000 hectares in Catamarca province, Argentina. The property is approximately 100 kilometers south of the Livent (NYSE:LTHM) Hombre Muerto lithium brine production site. The Kachi property also covers a 20-kilometer by 15-kilometer salt lake.
In November 2018, Lake Resources released its maiden resource for the Kachi project. The report outlined a resource estimate of 4.4 million tonnes of contained lithium carbonate equivalent. The report included an indicated resource of 1 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent and an inferred resource of 3.4 million tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent. In 2023, Lake Resources released an upgraded and increased confidence in the resource in the central area of the salar, with measured and indicated (M&I) resources of 2.2 Mt of LCE defined, to a depth of 400 meters over 81 square kilometers. Surrounding the M&I resources are inferred resources of 3.1 Mt LCE defined over 117 square kilometers.
Direct extraction Demonstration plant
Lake Resources partnered with Lilac Solutions to further the development of the Kachi project. Lilac Solutions has developed a proprietary ion-exchange technology for the extraction of lithium from brine resources.
The technology can achieve high recoveries with minimal costs and has rapid processing times when compared to using evaporation ponds. It also provides numerous environmental benefits as it eliminates the need for evaporation ponds and decreases the footprint of the operation. The technology also allows for the remaining brine to be re-injected into the aquifer.
Lilac has successfully operated the demonstration plant for 1,000 consecutive hours and produced 40,000 liters of lithium chloride eluate, which was then shipped to Saltworks to be converted to lithium carbonate. The lithium carbonate will then be independently tested for purity.
Pre-feasibility Study
In May 2020 Lake Resources released a PFS on the Kachi property with a target of producing 25,500 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), using Lilac's direct extraction technology at an operating cost of US$4,178 per tonne. The study was based on an indicated resource of 1.01 million tonnes LCE at 290 mg/L lithium. Lake is currently working towards a definitive feasibility study on the Kachi property.
Upcoming Milestones:
Lilac’s ion exchange is proven through extensive testing at the demonstration plant, allowing faster-to-market, high-recovery solutions that are environmentally sustainable. The company expects to report in the next several weeks on the test results of the 40,000 liters of lithium chloride that were shipped to Saltworks for conversion to lithium carbonate, and then further tested for purity levels.
Additionally, the company expects to provide an operational update on the Kachi Project in the second quarter. Completion of the DFS is expected mid-2023, followed by the completion and submission of the Environmental Impact Assessment by the fourth quarter of 2023.
Cauchari-Olaroz-Paso Lithium Brine Projects
The wholly owned Cauchari, Olaroz and Paso lithium brine projects are adjacent to one another and surrounded by significant players in Jujuy province in Argentina. The projects are adjacent to Orocobre's Olaroz lithium brine operations and projects under development by Lithium Americas (ICX:LAC), SQM (NYSE:SQM), Ganfeng Lithium and Advantage Lithium.
Exploration
Lake Resources began drilling on the Cauchari project in April 2019. The company encountered conductive lithium brines with values up to 480 mg/L of lithium at depths of approximately 186 meters at Cauchari. The results compared favorably with the results from nearby pre-production areas that are currently under development.
The 290-square-kilometer Paso lithium brine project is a wholly owned project in the Jujuy Province in Argentina. The province is adjacent to the border of Chile and is immediately west of Orocobre's Olaroz lithium brine operations. Lake Resources' initial sampling program returned elevated results.
At the current time, Lake is intently focused on progressing its Kachi project, however, drilling will resume at both the Olaroz and Paso projects. The drill wells are designed as part of an accelerated program across all projects in the area to quantify brines identified, develop aquifers, and conduct pump tests with data for initial feasibility studies. Rotary wells will be followed by diamond holes. Brines will be sampled and tested with direct lithium extraction methods, similar to previous work conducted on Kachi project lithium brines.Management Team
David Dickson - CEO and Managing Director
With more than 30 years' experience in process technology, engineering, construction, and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) cost management across the energy sector, David Dickson has a proven track record in successfully delivering multibillion dollar resource projects. He is currently a senior advisor to private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners, a global provider of private capital to the responsibly sourced energy and energy transition and decarbonization sectors, and an executive strategic advisor at investment firm The Chatterjee Group. He is the former CEO of global engineering and construction firm McDermott International, where, through his seven-year tenure he built a strong leadership team that steered the company into profitable new markets, oversaw McDermott's merger with CB&I, and ultimately grew the business to more than 30,000 employees across 54 international markets.
Prior to McDermott, Dickson was previously president of Technip USA, overseeing marketing and operations in North, Central and South America. He was also appointed to the board of the US National Safety Council and a member of the World Hydrogen Council.
Stuart Crow - Non-executive Chairman
Stuart Crow has global experience in financial services, corporate finance, investor relations, international markets, salary packaging, and stockbroking. He is passionate about assisting emerging and listed companies in attracting investors and capital. Crow has gained significant experience by owning and operating his own businesses.
Dr. Robert Trzebski - Non-executive Director
Dr. Robert Trzebski is currently chief operating officer of Austmine and holds a degree in geology, a master’s degree in project management, a PhD in geophysics, and has more than 30 years of professional experience in project management and mining services. He holds considerable operating and commercial experience in Argentina and Chile, as a non-executive director of Austral Gold since 2007, listed on the ASX and TSXV. He is chairman of the audit and risk committee at Austral Gold. His role with Austmine has allowed him to develop considerable contacts across the operating and technology space of the global resources industry. Trzebski is also a fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and is also fluent in Spanish, German and English.
Amalia Sáenz - Vice-president, Argentina Corporate Affairs
Amalia Sáenz was appointed a non-executive director in July 2021. An experienced energy and natural resources lawyer based in Buenos Aires, Sáenz is assisting Lake Resources and its local team in Argentina to engage with local stakeholders and prepare for the development of clean lithium in Argentina. She is a partner at the law firm, Zang, Bergel & Viñes in Buenos Aires, where she leads the firm’s energy and natural resources practice. A leading member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators, Sáenz has extensive experience in energy and resources, including mergers and acquisitions, financing, joint ventures and operating agreements in Argentina. She has also worked in Central Asia and the United Kingdom, gaining experience in exploration and production development across international borders and cultures.
Karen Greene – Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Communications
Karen Greene is an accomplished investor relations executive with over 25 years’ experience in leading US companies.
Her investor relations leadership experience includes senior vice-president, global client experience and corporate communications, member of senior leadership team at Q4 Inc, Toronto; managing director, investor relations at Hamilton Lane Corp and managing director of investor relations and communications at Actua Corporation in the US.
Greene has an MBA, Boston University and Temple University, Dean’s List; and BA Political Science, Dean’s List, University of Rochester and the Universite de Sorbonne, Paris, France.
Scott Munro - Senior Vice-president, Technology, Strategy and Risk
Scott Munro has significant experience and skills in strategic partnerships, corporate strategic planning, and technology development. He has experience in creating new business units and growing them rapidly to deliver large-scale industrial developments. Munro has overseen the successful delivery of large-scale industrial projects in international markets and has broad experience including general management, strategic planning, partnership development and overseeing technology development. His prior roles included corporate development officer at McDermott International with responsibility for Strategy Development following a period as business unit leader for the company's Americas, Europe, and Africa (AEA) Business Unit and overseeing its re-entry into these geographical areas.
Peter Neilsen - Chief Financial Officer
Peter Neilsen is a chartered accountant with more than 20 years’ experience in all facets of financial management, asset management, and leadership. He has served in a range of positions including as CFO, company secretary, finance manager, and other senior executive positions for a number of listed and unlisted companies in the energy and natural resources sector. Among the companies Neilson has worked with are Barrick, Xstrata and Round Oak. He has been involved in reducing operating expenses up to AU$100M through cost analysis, performance improvements and contract negotiations, acquisitions of up to $80M and managed revenues in excess of AU$5 billion.
John Freeman - Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel
John Freeman is a highly accomplished legal executive with over 30 years of experience in leading global companies. His extensive leadership experience includes serving as chief legal officer, executive vice-president and corporate secretary for McDermott International; general counsel and executive vice-president for Technip S.A.; global ethics and compliance director for Baker Hughes, in addition to other legal and compliance positions within that organization. Freeman has also served as prosecuting attorney for the US Office of Special Counsel and special assistant US attorney for the District of Columbia.
Gentry Brann - Chief People and Administration Officer
Gentry Brann has over 25 years of experience leading HR and communications functions. She joins Lake from McDermott, where she led the company's strategic focus on inclusion and diversity, as well as human resources, communications and marketing, real estate and facilities, and global travel. Brann joined McDermott from CB&I in 2018, where she served as senior vice-president of communications and brand management. Prior to CB&I's acquisition of The Shaw Group, she served as vice-president of investor relations and corporate communications for Shaw. Brann holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University. She is also a graduate of the Advanced Leadership Program at Rice University's Jones School of Business.
Mark Anning - Head of Legal, Australia, and Company Secretary
Mark Anning has practiced at partner level in private practice, and in-house at CEO and chair direct-report levels for several ASX and NASDAQ listed companies. With 30 years of legal and corporate practice experience, Anning has specialized in corporate and commercial law, dispute resolution, risk management and corporate governance. Anning is a chartered secretary and holds a Bachelor of Commerce and LLB (Hons) from the University of Queensland and a graduate diploma in applied corporate governance. He is a fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and is admitted to practice in all Commonwealth Courts and the Supreme Courts of Queensland and Victoria.
Sean Miller - Corporate Development Officer
Sean Miller has significant experience and skills in project execution, supply chains, contracts and procurement, and project optimisation. He has overseen the successful delivery of multibillion dollar projects in Australia and in international markets. He has broad experience including general management, strategic planning, supply chain, finance, legal, information technology, sustainable development and human resources in both greenfield projects and brownfield sites. His prior roles include being head of commercial operations for The Carmichael Rail Project in Queensland; commercial development director at the Kamoto Copper Company Copper and Cobalt mine in Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of Congo; manager - contracts & procurement for Glencore's North Queensland Metals; and superintendent metal handling at Rio Tinto's Boyne Smelters Ltd.
Howard Atkins - Non-executive Director
Howard Atkins brings deep financial management, capital markets, transaction, foreign exchange, and public company experience to the Lake Resources Board. He has over 30 years of financial leadership experience, including 20 years serving as a CFO for organizations including Wells Fargo, New York Life Insurance Company, and Midlantic Bank Corporation. Atkins previously held senior roles at Chase Manhattan Bank, including as head of Foreign Exchange and Markets Businesses for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and head of the bank's worldwide interest rate derivatives trading business. He has served on the boards of Occidental Petroleum and Ingram Micro.
Dr. Cheemin Bo-Linn - Non-executive Director
Dr. Cheemin Bo-Linn is an accomplished CEO, former Fortune 100 operations executive, and board director with over 25 years of governance expertise at private organizations and public companies across the Americas and Europe. Her board leadership experience at public companies includes her appointment as lead independent director, chair of every major committee (audit, compensation, nomination/governance), chair of sustainability/ESG, and chair of the technology and cybersecurity committees. Her related current board service includes Flux Power, a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced sustainable lithium-ion energy storage solutions for industrial mobility fleets.
Ana Gomez Chapman - Non-executive Director
Ana Gomez Chapman is a financial services executive and board director with over 25 years of investment management, capital markets and business leadership experience. She has worked and lived across the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Chapman previously served on the board of directors of MP Materials, a US-based sustainable rare earth production and refining company where she steered the company through an operational turn-around that led to a New York Stock Exchange listing. She has also served on the advisory board of investment software company Backstop Solutions Group. She is a capital markets expert who has held senior roles at institutional investment firms including Hamilton Lane, where she currently serves as a managing director. She previously was senior relationship manager and alternatives lead at Allianz Global Investors, president of JHL Capital Group LLC, and vice-president at Goldman Sachs in their Latin American, Asian and US equities businesses.
Forward Water Technologies
Overview
Forward Water Technologies (TSXV:FWTC) is helping lithium mining companies and other industries reduce their environmental impact through its innovative wastewater treatment technology that enables industrial operations to reduce liquid waste volume by up to 95 percent.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings continue to be a key business strategy for organizations as they impact public perception and partnership possibilities. For water-intensive industries, such as mining, sustainable wastewater management is critical.
Transformative wastewater technologies are critical for both businesses and the world’s population. In fact, unless sufficient progress is achieved, UNICEF and WHO estimate that 1.6 billion people will be without access to safe drinking water by 2030, and 2.8 billion will be without access to safe sanitation and hygiene. Water treatment technologies can disrupt current trends and improve global access to safe drinking water.
Through its Forward Osmosis (FO) technology, Forward Water is providing an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional wastewater disposal. Traditionally, wastewater disposal requires transporting untreated wastewater for deep well disposal or high-intensity thermal treatment.
Forward Water’s FO system is installed at the client site, and wastewater is treated to reduce waste volume and produce valuable clean water for reuse in the manufacturing process. Then, the significantly reduced volume of wastewater is transported and disposed of, significantly saving on transportation and disposal costs.
The FO technology targets three massive sectors: industrial wastewater, mining and food manufacturing. Forward Water’s unique and patented FO technology achieves high-rate water extraction within a low-energy continuous process. The process reduces waste and allows up to 95 percent water recovery, ready for reuse.
Forward Water’s Li-FO™ technology is ideal for lithium-brine mining operations, allowing mines to “fine tune” brine sources to improve concentration by up to 20 times. This results in improved recovery and makes lower-concentration brines economically viable. Forward Water is currently embarking on an early development testing project to further evaluate and refine the technology’s viability in lithium mining.
In 2023, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Forward Water Technologies Inc., licensed specific intellectual property from FUJIFILM Corporation to solidify the protection of its water treatment technology platform.
CleanTech Lithium (AIM:CTL,Frankfurt:T2N,OTC:CTLHF) has contracted FWT to provide advisory services for the support and development of CleanTech Lithium's direct lithium extraction (DLE) process in Chile. The collaboration will use FWT’s industrial forward osmosis system in the hyper-concentrating of CleanTech Lithium's eluate and its conversion into battery-grade lithium carbonate through Conductive Energy's DLE process.
Howie Honeyman, CEO, explained in an interview how the company’s technology can improve lithium mining operations. “A lot of lithium being mined today around the world is coming from underground aquifers that store the lithium brine. The challenge is that the lithium is surrounded by other minerals and salts, requiring chemical ‘tweezers’ to pluck out that lithium. What we can do is, at multiple places in that process, we can concentrate that lithium-containing water stream, which makes it far easier for these miners to handle the volumes they need to extract that lithium.”
An experienced management team with technical expertise leads the company towards further refining and deploying its technology. The team includes experts in materials science, chemistry and engineering. Additional experts in corporate administration and financing round out the leadership team to lead the company toward its goals.
Company Highlights
- Forward Water Technologies has developed a patented wastewater treatment technology that reduces wastewater volume and improves reusability across multiple industries, including mining and food manufacturing.
- The company’s Forward Osmosis (FO) technology disrupts the traditional method of wastewater disposal by reducing the amount of waste that must be transported and disposed of, directly reducing costs.
- The FO technology also improves water reusability by up to 95 percent, reducing the expense of importing water for industrial processes.
- The Forward Water Technologies Li-FO™ process is applicable in the lithium mining sector by improving concentration by up to 20 times, allowing organizations to improve extraction efficiency.
- The company has partnered with a lithium-brine extraction operation to evaluate its Li-FO™ technology.
- Forward Water Technologies is in early negotiations to deliver an FWTC forward osmosis pilot system on-site in Chile to support a customer's lithium extraction process.
- Forward Water Technologies has licensed specific intellectual property from FUJIFILM Corporation to solidify the protection of its water treatment technology platform.
- The company has been contracted by CleanTech Lithium to provide advisory services for the support and development of CleanTech Lithium's direct lithium extraction processes in Chile.
- An experienced management team with a blend of relevant technical expertise leads the company toward refining and marketing its technology.
Key Project
Forward Osmosis Water Treatment
Forward Osmosis is a naturally occurring process in which water is spontaneously drawn across a membrane when one solution is higher in salt concentration than the other. The difference in salinity, known as the osmotic gradient, creates a low-energy water treatment process.
Forward Water Technologies has leveraged the naturally occurring process to innovate its patented, three-step FO technology, enabling a 95 percent wastewater reduction and 95 percent water recovery.
Project Highlights:
- Patented Three-Step Process: Forward Water Technologies FO process achieves low-energy and high-rate water extraction with a unique three-step design:
- Water Extraction: Water is drawn across the FO membrane into a salt draw solution. The combination of the patented draw solution and unique membrane “locks” the draw solution on one side of the membrane, creating a true closed-loop process.
- Water/Salt Separation: Next, a switchable water salt (SWS) achieves water/salt separation as low-grade heat is applied, and it phases from liquid to gas. As the gas leaves the solution, clean water is left behind. The energy necessary for this step is often found in many facilities in the form of waste heat.
- Salt Draw Reconcentration: Finally, as the gas leaves the solution, it is captured within the closed-loop system and is passively cooled, causing it to phase back into liquid form as an SWS. The SWS liquid is collected and recycled back to the front of the membranes in the water extraction step, creating a continuous process.
- Widely Applicable Water Treatment: The low-energy process allows organizations across several industries to improve water reclamation and reduce wastewater by up to 95 percent. Additionally, the process allows for up to 20 times concentration, making the process amenable to lithium-brine extraction and other potential applications.
- Significant Cost Savings: The primary value proposition for the FO process is cost reduction in wastewater transportation and disposal. With the process in place, more water is reclaimed for reuse in manufacturing, which reduces the raw volume of wastewater that must be transported and disposed of.
Management Team
Howie Honeyman - Chief Executive Officer and President
Dr. Howie Honeyman has 20 years of experience commercializing new technologies at Xerox, Cabot, E Ink, Natrix Separations and as former CTO of GreenCentre Canada. Honeyman commercialized high-capacity, high-throughput membranes for bioprocessing as SVP of Natrix Separations, which has since been acquired by Millipore-Sigma. Since 2015, Honeyman has been leading Forward Water to become a premier wastewater treatment solution. Honeyman is also an inventor of record on over 50 US patents and holds a PhD in chemistry from the University of Toronto.
Michael Willetts - Chief Financial Officer
Michael Willetts has over 25 years in financial leadership roles primarily in manufacturing, from large multinational businesses to startups, both public and private. He previously worked as an engineer in the automotive industry before entering into finance at Ford Motor Company. Willets went on to progressively larger finance roles in several international automotive suppliers (Textron, GKN, DSM) and Canadian manufacturers (Armtec, Stronach International, AirBoss of America). Willetts is currently providing fractional CFO services through WD Numeric Corporate Services in the manufacturing, SaaS and cannabis industries. Willetts graduated with a BASc, BComm and MBA from the University of Windsor.
Wayne Maddever - Chief Operating Officer
Dr. Wayne Maddever received his Ph.D. in materials science engineering from the University of Toronto. Since 1985, he has held senior executive management positions with technically based businesses in start-up, turnaround or acquisition situations where his skills in change management have brought considerable success in the commercialization of new technologies. His experience in both private and public companies, domestically and internationally, spans a broad variety of industries, including bio and advanced materials, precision manufacturing, recycling, waste-to-energy and medical devices. He holds a number of patents in several fields. He is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering. In addition to his duties as COO of Forward Water, he is currently portfolio manager at Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, one of the major shareholders of Forward Water.
Grant Thornley - VP Engineering Solution Sales
Grant Thornley is a business strategist with more than 25 years of experience. He has developed and grown international water/wastewater markets through innovative growth hacking techniques and processes, synergized with product development and positioning, data analytics and acceleration of go-to-market strategies through alliances and partnerships. Having expertise in chemical, mechanical and biological treatment processes as well as designing hundreds of municipal and industrial applications, Thornley brings a knowledge-to-action approach to helping clients solve problems and realize new opportunities in water reuse, energy conservation and CO2 reduction.
Leonard Seed - Director of Engineering & Operations
Leonard Seed has over 18 years of experience developing and commercializing new water and wastewater treatment technologies, primarily in a start-up environment. Seed is named as an inventor on over seven patents and has authored several publications. Seed is a professional engineer and has an MSc in environmental engineering from the University of Guelph. Leonard holds inventorship on seven US patents and is an instructor at Mohawk College teaching aspects of water treatment technologies and leading research efforts on forward osmosis.
Philip Jessop - Executive Research Director
Dr. Philip Jessop is a professor and Canada Research Chair of Green Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. He also serves as the technical director of GreenCentre Canada and executive research director at Forward Water Technologies. After his Ph.D. (British Columbia, 1991) and a postdoctoral appointment (Toronto, 1992), he became a contract researcher in Japan working for R. Noyori (Nobel Prize 2001). As a professor at the University of California-Davis (1996-2003) and since then at Queen’s, he has studied green solvents and the chemistry of carbon dioxide. Distinctions include the NSERC Polanyi Award (2008), Killam Research Fellowship (2010), Canadian Green Chemistry & Engineering Award (2012), Eni Award (2013), Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada (2013), a Canada Research Chair Tier 1 (2013 to 2020), and the NSERC Brockhouse Prize (2019). He serves as chair of the editorial board for the journal Green Chemistry, has chaired three international conferences, and helped create GreenCentre Canada, a national center of excellence for the commercialization of green chemistry technologies. Forward Water is a spin-off company based on Dr. Jessop’s switchable solvents.
Quarterly Activities Report for the Period Ended 31 March 2024
Highlights
Solonópole Project, Ceará, Brazil
- Anomalous lithium values above 100 ppm (and up to 631 ppm) found in 383 soil samples within existing and new target areas.
- Integration and interpretation of these soil sample results with data from geophysics, geological mapping (138 line-km), trenching and RC drilling (~2,000m) further enhance prospectivity of existing and new targets.
- Combined datasets confirmed several swarms of pegmatite bodies striking in a NE-SW and E-W directions and identified new high priority areas.
- Nira interpreted to be the most prospective new target, with 180 soil samples of >100 ppm Li and as high as 524 ppm Li covering an area of at least 1km2.
- Nira also features 17 pegmatite outcrops with average widths of up to 30 meters and strike lengths from 200m to 600m.
- Planning for the next follow-up drilling campaign is underway.
Napperby Project, Northern Territory, Australia
- Oceana’s Napperby Project covers some of Arunta Province’s hottest granites plutons, the Wangala Granite (uranium) and Ennugan Mountains Granite (uranium/thorium).
- Both granite plutons show outstanding uranium/thorium ratios and are almost fully encapsulated within Napperby’s EL32836 and ELA32841.
- Follow-up exploration activities will target uranium and Rare Earth Elements (REEs) in parallel with Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum (LCT) pegmatites.
Corporate
- Experienced geologist and mining executive, Aidan Platel, appointed as non- executive director.
- Brazilian-based geologist, Mike Sousa, appointed as Exploration Manager and Competent Person.
- The Company remains well-funded with cash at 31 March of ~$2.67m.
OPERATIONS
Solonópole Project, Ceará State, Brazil
The Solonópole Project area is located in the state of Ceará, north-eastern Brazil and consists of ten (10) exploration permits covering approximately 124km2 (Figure 1), owned by Oceana’s subsidiary Ceará Litio. The project is approximately three to four hours by road from the state capital Fortaleza and deep-water port of Pecém, and is well serviced by sealed highways and high voltage electricity.
Figure 1: Solonópole Project permits and targets drilled in May – June 2023 (red dots)
Large-Scale Soil Sampling and Geological Mapping at Solonópole Lithium Project
The large-scale infill soil sampling program that commenced in March 2023 continued over the project area (Figure 2). The optimized sampling grids are along 200m spaced lines with 25m sampling stations, aligned north south to cut across all typical pegmatite strike directions in this area.
As at 31 March 2024, over 10,300 soil samples had been collected from Solonópole and 8,741 soil samples had been analysed by X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) for Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum (LCT) pathfinders, of which 1,908 soil samples have lab results validated by Oceana´s internal QA/QC. Anomalous lithium values above 100 ppm and up to 631 ppm were found in 383 soil samples within existing and new target areas.
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