Oct 6 2010
AmeriLithium Corp. (OTC Bulletin Board: AMEL) is pleased to announce rough preliminary volume estimates of up to 26,000 tons of potential Lithium resource underlying the Company's Paymaster Canyon Lithium brine project in Nevada, USA.
With Lithium carbonate trading in the range of $5,500-$6,000 per metric tonne according to a Q3 report by Resource Capital Research,(1) AmeriLithium's potential Lithium resource on this single Nevada property could represent a market valuation from $132.8 to $144.9 million. The Company's Lithium holdings also include two other Nevada-based projects nearby, as well as more sizeable claims in Canada and Australia.
The Paymaster estimates were made to determine if the project's potential Lithium resource warranted further investigation, as well as to guide decisions involving the scope and nature of the Company's proposed drilling program. Motivated by the very positive nature of the Paymaster Lithium brine estimates, the AmeriLithium team is already in the final stages of putting together a 10-hole drill program, and will be releasing details on the program in the near future.
"Time is of the essence in maximizing the very large potential yield of our Paymaster project, followed by our other two Nevada-based projects, and our international projects in turn," commented Matthew Worrall, Chief Executive Officer of AmeriLithium. "The Resource Capital Research (RCR) report also stated '[t]here is an opportunity for developers, with projects that are advanced or can be fast tracked, to gain market share as demand increases,' and we plan to be among those developers." Worrall also added, "Seeing as the RCR report indicated Lithium carbonate prices are already up from the 2009 average of $5,300 per tonne, and are expected to reach $6,757 per tonne by 2015, our Paymaster project's estimates could point to a potential valuation that even exceeds $163 million."
AmeriLithium's domestic Paymaster Project represents a 5,880-acre claim block adjacent to the Clayton Valley playa, where Lithium-rich brines and evaporates have been accumulating for more than 30,000 years, resulting in the highest Lithium content found in any brines tested by the US Geological Survey (USGS) in southwestern US playas and basins.(2)
Clayton Valley is home to the only US-based Lithium producing plant, operated by neighboring Chemetall Foote Corporation, a subsidiary of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. The plant has been in production since 1967, producing an estimated 50 million kg (55,000+ tons) of Lithium to date from the region's rich brines.(3)
Robert Allender, AmeriLithium's VP of Exploration and Chief Geologist, commented on the Paymaster estimates, clarifying that the estimates are not CNI 43-101 compliant, and, as such, should not be relied upon for other purposes. Furthermore, sufficient testing has not yet been completed for a Qualified Person to make definitive determinations.
Mr. Allender went on to indicate that, based on the dimensions of the depression as measured from the gravity survey results, the "trap" that could contain Lithium-bearing brines could have a volume of from 320 to 1,138 million cubic meters. Depending on the size and configuration of the depression, the amount of water contained within the depression, and the concentration of Lithium and other constituents in the water, the Paymaster Canyon property could contain up to 24,142 tonnes (up to 26,000 tons) of Lithium.
The estimates are based on the interpretation of geophysical investigation results and preliminary assumptions derived from available published reports on the Clayton Valley area Lithium resources. Assumptions have been made concerning the dimensions of the bedrock depression, the nature and extent of high EM conductivity zones, the presence of Lithium-enriched brine, the amount of water contained within the trap, and the concentration of Lithium in the groundwater. No consideration for stratigraphic confinement of Lithium-bearing groundwater has been included, and the entire sequence was assumed to be saturated to a degree.
Further investigation and drilling will be necessary to define critical geochemical and hydrogeologic parameters such as Lithium and other constituent concentrations and porosity, permeability, and storativity, along with other groundwater characteristics that will allow the Company to more accurately determine the Lithium resource.
(1) Resource Capital Research - Rare & Minor Minerals Review 3Q10 Abridged
(2) NI 43-101 Technical Report by Coast Mountain Geological Ltd for Rodinia Minerals Inc, Mar. 12, 2009
(3) Rodinia Minerals Inc website, Feb. 25, 2009
SOURCE AmeriLithium Corp.
www.amerilithium.com