Nov 27 2012
Canada Lithium Corp. announced today it has been awarded the prestigious "Entrepreneur of the Year Award" by the Québec Mineral Exploration Association (AEMQ).
The association noted that "the award emphasizes the work of a contractor or team of contractors whose company has made significant progress over the past year. This progress can be related to the development of a specific project, to all company activities or the development of a mining project towards its phase of production."
"We are very honoured to have been recognized by the association for our Québec Lithium Project, which is now approaching the commissioning phase," said Canada Lithium President and CEO Peter Secker.
The award was granted at AEMQ's annual recognition awards ceremony during the Québec Mining Exploration Convention, November 19-22.
Project Update
The Company notes that dry commissioning of the crushing, grinding and flotation circuits is scheduled for end-December 2012. The first stage of the Tailings Management Facility (TMF) is on schedule for completion by mid-December and will be operating when wet commissioning of the spodumene circuit begins in January 2013. Structural, mechanical and electrical installation for the hydrometallurgical circuit is ongoing and commissioning of the hydrometallurgical plant will commence in February 2013. The first shipment of lithium carbonate to the Tewoo Group in China is on schedule for end-March 2013. (See press release dated November 12, 2012, for details on the five-year Tewoo offtake agreement.) Full production of the 20,000-tonne-per-annum lithium carbonate processing plant is on-schedule for Q4, 2013.
The Company also announced it has filed on SEDAR a National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report in support of the Updated Feasibility Study announced October 11, 2012.
Lithium Carbonate Market Update
In reporting its latest Third Quarter results, major lithium producer Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile S.A (SQM) noted that "demand growth continues to be led by the battery market, along with important growth in uses related to glass and grease. We believe that (the) lithium market is positioned to grow in the short and long term resulting from the development of new technologies related to energy storage. Volumes increased over 14% in the third quarter when compared to the third quarter of 2011."
SQM went on to note that "increased demand has impacted market prices, which have increased over 10% in the first nine months of 2012 when compared to the first nine months in 2011."
Further evidence of a strong market may have been provided by Chengdu Tianqi, a major Chinese lithium producer, when it recently announced a competing bid ($7.15 per share) for Talison Lithium Limited, approximately 10% higher than an earlier $6.50-per-share bid by Rockwood Holdings, Inc. The Tianqi bid is under review by the Talison Board.