Wednesday, May 09, 2012

International Lithium Corp.- Global Portfolio of Lithium Assets ILC.v, TNR.v



Lithium Investing News:



International Lithium Corp.- Global Portfolio of Lithium Assets





Overview

International Lithium Corp. (TSXV:ILC) is a lithium resource developer with a strong global portfolio of lithium assets. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, International Lithium Corp. is 29 percent owned by TNR Gold Corp. International Lithium Corporation, labeled a “Clean Tech” currently holds highly prospective projects in the most prolific areas of the world for lithium and rare metals.
International Lithium Corp has recently reinforced its relationship with strategic partner, Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. from China, with a focus on advancing the core International Lithium Corp projects. Ganfeng recently increased their equity to 14.7%. TNR Gold Corp has successfully spun-off International Lithium Corp as a separate publicly traded entity to maximize TNR shareholder value. International Lithium Corp. focuses on developing lithium and rare metals prospect worldwide while TNR continues to generate early staged assets and co-developing them with joint venture partners.

Investment Highlights

  • Nine projects worldwide: Argentina, USA, Canada, Ireland
  • Balanced portfolio: Lithium-Potash-Boron Brine, and Rare Metals Pegmatite Properties
  • Strong management, support and expert technical team
  • Strategic partnership: Ganfeng Lithium
  • Steadfast and rapidly accelerating operations
  • Highest grades of potash reported in Argentina
  • Higher continued demand now and in the future

Key Properties

MARIANA LITHIUM

The 100 percent owned Mariana Lithium project, a lithium-potash salar consists of several contiguous mining claims that cover an expansive 160 km2 project area. The property strategically encompasses the entire salar and a significant portion of the surrounding area to provide prospective land for a potential future processing plant facility. Salars, or salt lakes, host some of the largest known lithium resources in the world and the Mariana basin is one of the more prominent salars in the renowned lithium belt of South America that produces more than 70 percent of global production.

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Initial surface brine sampling revealed highly compelling geochemistry reporting average grades of 440 mg/L lithium and 12,700 mg/L potassium. The potassium levels represent one of the highest grades comparative to any of the neighbouring salars outside of the world class operation on the Atacama salar in Chile.
International Lithium Corp recently received analytical results for phase one of the resource delineation drilling program at the Mariana potash-lithium-boron brine project. Four widely spaced drill holes were positioned approximately 5 km apart to characterize the subsurface strata and brine across several previously identified geological and geochemical regions within the 10 x 15 km salar basin. Analytical results indicate brines with potash grades significantly higher than those reported in other Argentine salars. All three target commodities – potash, lithium and boron are distributed with little grade variation within each drill hole leaving all commodities open at depth. Distribution across the salar shows increasing grades to the north and west. The Company finds the wide distribution of high potash values throughout the entire salar to depth particularly encouraging.
While the Company has always considered potash to be an important part of the mineral potential at the Mariana Project, recent drilling has identified potash as likely being the leading value resource of this multi-commodity project. Contributions from lithium and borates remain a fundamental component as International Lithium Corp. moves ahead through resource delineation and further evaluation of the project. The results are posted on the company’s website.

MAVIS LAKE- FAIRSERVICE PROJECT

The Mavis Lake – Fairservice property is located 15 km Northeast of Dryden, Ontario. The property is easily accessed via the Trans-Canada Highway and a series of logging roads. The 19 contiguous claim blocks comprise a total of 2,624 hectares and straddle a continuous pegmatite field exhibiting high-grade, well-evolved, lithium and tantalum zonation as well as significant levels of cesium and rubidium.
Regional pegmatite mineralization is directly associated with the strongly peraluminous Ghost Lake Pluton and related pegmatitic granite dykes. Rare metal mineralization in the Mavis Lake area occurs in zoned pegmatites hosted by mafic metavolcanic rocks. Rare metal mineralization occurs in four zones: internal beryl zone within the parent of the Ghost Lake pluton that evolves to the east within the Fairservice and Mavis Lake claim blocks into external zones of beryl-columbite, spodumene-beryl-tantalite and albite-type pegmatites.
The preliminary drill results revealed more extensive pegmatite intersections and more widely distributed multi-element rare metal mineralization than anticipated; highlighted by the discovery of a lithium, rubidium and tantalum enriched 78 meter interval situated outside of the area of past exploration.
The 20-hole, 1,753 metre drill program carried out on the Fairservice / Mavis Lake project in August-September 2011 revealed more extensive pegmatite intersections than anticipated, a previously unknown near-surface pegmatite and lithium grades on par with or exceeding historical lithium results. Another objective of the program was to determine the distribution of rare metal mineralization within the pegmatites since their presence can improve the prospectivity of the property and form an important part of an economic assessment.
The drilling revealed that several elements, including Be, Cs, Rb, Sn and Ta, exhibit systematic zonation in and around the pegmatites on the Mavis-Fairservice property. The presence of significant quantities of these elements contributes to the advancement of exploration on the property, both as potential commodities and by providing geochemical zonation in and adjacent to targeted lithium mineralization.

BLACKSTAIRS PROJECT, IRELAND

The Blackstairs project, comprised of eight mineral exploration licences totalling 292 square kilometres, is located 80 km south of Dublin straddling the counties of Carlow and Wicklow in Leinster, south-east Ireland. The property encompasses an extensive NE-SW oriented 50 kilometre long rare metals pegmatite belt situated within the east Carlow deformation zone along the eastern side of the Leinster Granite.
Approximately 19 significant lithium pegmatite occurrences have been discovered within the Property to date primarily as boulder trails with five buried pegmatites known through past trenching and drilling.
Lithium bearing pegmatite occurrences were first reported in the area in 1970. In the period through to 1977, Irish Base Metals carried out a preliminary exploration program comprising prospecting, sampling, trenching and geophysical surveys culminating in 47 short boreholes totalling 2,300 metres at four of the 19 lithium pegmatite occurrences over a number of seasons.
Due to the prevalent overburden cover and scarcity of outcrop, prospecting for lithium pegmatite boulders was the most successful exploration method utilised to identify priority target areas. The relative location, size and quantity of pegmatite boulders within the dry stone field boundaries provided a reliable indication for the approximate position of buried pegmatites. The Aclare House occurrence, situated in the center of the Property, has witnessed the most exploration activity on the property and was initially discovered through this exploration approach.
The observed lithium bearing pegmatites and extensive boulder occurrences within the Property represent a highly prospective and underexplored region. In addition, the recent discovery of a high concentration of pegmatite boulders reporting grades exceeding 4% Li2O at Moylisha only serve to highlight the exploration potential of the property.

MOYLISHA DISCOVERY

A preliminary reconnaissance of the property performed by Aurum Exploration Services discovered within a 250 x 250 metre area a high density distribution of pegmatite boulders. This area is in a recently harvested section of a tree farm in which the pegmatite boulders were previously hidden from view. Four samples (MOY2-5)* were collected in this new area with three of the samples grading better than 3% Li2O and the highest returning 4.59% Li2O representing greater than a 50% spodumene content.
This newly identified lithium pegmatite boulder area is situated 500m to the southwest and along the district trend from past exploration activities at Moylisha, where five drill holes totalling 212 metres were drilled revealing a pegmatite between 5 and 10 metres in width and a best intersection grading 1.66% Li2O over 9.4m.
The observed high grade lithium bearing pegmatites and extensive boulder occurrence within such a small area represents a highly prospective and unexplored zone along strike from a previously identified pegmatite and specifically indicates a potentially sizable, yet to be discovered buried pegmatite body.
The discovery was made during a preliminary reconnaissance exploration programme that included boulder mapping at six of the known lithium prospects and the initiation of exploration for additional occurrences within the Property. A total of 21 varied samples were collected across the Property and of the 8 spodumene bearing pegmatite samples collected, all returned greater than 1% Li2O.

Summary

International Lithium Corporation currently has nine active rare metals projects, well balanced between lithium-potash brines in Argentina, Nevada and hard-rock pegmatites in Canada and Ireland. The Company’s primary focus is the Mariana lithium-potash brine project, a salar or ‘salt lake’, covering an expansive 160 square kilometres and strategically encompassing the entire basin. Mariana is located in the renowned South American ‘Lithium Belt’ centred on the junction of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile that is host to the vast majority of global lithium resources, reserves and production. The Mariana lithium-potash brine project ranks as one of the more prospective salars in the region.

Management

Gary Schellenberg B.Sc (Geo), CEO and Executive Chairman
Mr. Schellenberg has been managing and financing public and private resource based companies for the past 20 years. This experience provides the Company with leadership and well defined corporate goals.
Kirill Klip, MBA, President
Kirill Klip graduated with the degree in Management from St. Petersburg State University of Railways, later obtaining a degree in Economics from the International Business School in Moscow and a degree in MBA in Finance from both the International Business School in Moscow and Guildhall University in London. He has extensive expertise in banking, transportation, mining, telecommunications and internet industries. Kirill Klip served as the First Vice President and Member of the Board of TransCreditBank (Moscow), Member of the Board of TransTeleCom (Moscow) and Member of the Board of Dry Bulk Terminal (Tallinn). He also acted as the Adviser on Finance for the Minister of Russian Railway System (Moscow)
From 2008 Kirill Klip has acted as Non-Executive Chairman and member of the Board of TNR Gold Corp. (International Lithium’s parent company through a Plan of Arrangement and spin-out) and an Adviser to the Board of Canada Zinc Metals.
In addition to years of entrepreneurial and corporate stewardship, he also manages a portfolio of global assets and brings a robust financial network to the group.
Mr. Klip is the largest individual shareholder in International Lithium with approximately 11% of the outstanding shares and holds a 20% equity stake in TNR Gold Corp. . Mr. Klip is a UK citizen and resides in London.
Jerry Bella, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Bella is a Certified General Accountant with over 20 years experience as a director and CFO of various companies trading on the TSX Venture Exchange. He oversees all the financial affairs of the Company on a day to day basis and works closely with other senior management members in meeting TNR’s goals and objectives.
John Harrop P.Geo, Vice President of Exploration
Mr. Harrop has been involved in many aspects of gold and base metal exploration for 24 years. He has international field experience in North, Central and South America. He also has substantial experience developing and implementing new technology, such as GIS and 3D geophysics, which can provide competitive advantages to exploration teams.
Bryson Goodwin, Vice President of Corporate Development
Mr. Goodwin has over 20 years of combined experience in Business Development. He has successfully implemented his marketing programs across an array of companies on The Toronto Venture Stock Exchange including Klondex Mines Ltd., for which he served as Director of Investor Relations and oversaw the stock go up from $1.10 to $3.85. Moving into the next level with International Lithium, Bryson brings to the table his extensive knowledge in Marketing and Investor Relations.
Ike Osmani P.Geo, Advisor
Mr. Osmani brings 26 years of Canadian and International mineral exploration experience in gold, uranium and base metals and has provided exploration consulting services for numerous resource companies. He has 17 years of experience with major and junior exploration/mining companies and as an independent Consultant and 9 years with Ontario Geological Survey (Government of Ontario).
Dr. Frederick B. Breaks M.Sc, Ph.D Geo
Dr. Breaks is a Ph.D. and Professional Geoscientist who is well known as a Lithium and Rare Earth Elements (REE) expert in Canada. A proven explorer, he discovered two significant lithium-rich deposits: Avalon Venture Ltd’s Big Whopper pegmatite near Kenora, Ontario and Houston Lake Mining Inc’s Pakeagama Lake pegmatite in the North Spirit Lake area of Northwestern Ontario. His ability to create genetic and exploration models of lithium-rich, pegmatite deposits was developed during his career at Ontario Geological Survey where he authored and coauthored over 120 peer-reviewed scientific papers."

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