Canada’s Advance Lithium in JV Talks with Mexico’s National Lithium Company
- March 2, 2023
- Posted by: Quatro Strategies
- Category: Mining
Canada’s Advance Lithium has entered into discussions for a possible joint venture with Mexico’s national lithium company LitioMx. The two sides have aligned goals, most important of which is to make Mexico a lithium mining country as quickly as possible. The Canadian miner has a group of lithium salt lakes in central Mexico. The lithium and potassium mineralization are in clay deposits that start right at the surface and are not bound up in other minerals, it says. The company has the rights to use a patent pending lithium and potassium extraction method for its salt lakes.
Advance Lithium says with its new extraction method, it would consume less energy, which the company believes could be provided using solar power. The lithium extraction methods for other lithium clay deposits need expensive roasters that have high energy costs as the lithium is bound up in other minerals.
Another advantage of the method, Advance says it that the water used could be recycled and used many times, which is a key difference between other lithium extraction methods from clay deposits that require significant amounts of water that cannot be recycled.
A demonstration plant is currently being built in Zacatecas, Mexico, by a team of metallurgists. The goal is to show potential partners, shareholders and other interested parties Advance Lithium’s unique method to extract lithium and potassium.
“I’m excited about entering discussions with LitioMx to form a joint venture. Two large vehicle manufacturing companies have recently announced plans to build battery manufacturing facilities in Mexico, one of which will be located in the state of San Luis Potosi in close proximity to our salars,” Advance Lithium CEO Laboucan said in a media release, referring to Tesla and BMW’s plans to build manufacturing plants in the country.
“It has always been a goal of Advance Lithium that if we become a lithium and potassium producer and that the lithium and potassium stays in Mexico to help with domestic battery manufacturing,” he added.
In addition to the lithium salars, Advance Lithium has a 100% interest in the Tabasquena silver mine and the Venaditas polymetalic project, both located in Zacatecas, Mexico.
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