Jr. Extends Holdings in Canada's Only Producing Lithium Camp

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American Salars Lithium Inc. (USLI:CSE; USLIF:OTC; Z3P:FWB; A3E2NY:WKN) announced it has signed an agreement expanding its holdings in "Canada's only producing lithium camp" in Quebec.

The company said it had signed a mineral claims purchase agreement with an arm's length vendor to acquire 100% of the Lac Simard Nord Project, which includes 286 acres covering two claim blocks contiguous to Sayona Mining Ltd.'s (SYA:ASX) Tansim Project, estimated by Sayona as having the potential to contain between 5 and 25 million tons of Li20 at 1.2% to 1.3%.

American Salars said the purchase brings its holdings in the camp to 3,958.75 acres.

This week, Sayona and Piedmont Lithium Ltd. (PLL:NASDAQ; PLL:ASX) announced a merger to create a CA$870 million lithium giant after announcing continued record production at the North American Lithium operation in Quebec.

"This was a great opportunity to acquire strategic ground in close proximately to a known lithium showing inside Sayona's Tansim project," American Salars Chief Executive Officer and Director R. Nick Horsley said. " We will continue the hunt for low cost/high value lithium projects. Furthermore, the merger of Sayona and Piedmont shows that there is a strong appetite for M&A in the lithium space.”

Located nearby is Sayona's Abitibi Hub — made up of its North American, Authier, and Tansim lithium projects — which boasts a "staggering aggregate measured and indicated resource of 111 million tonnes grading 1.14% lithium, the largest lithium resource in Quebec," American Salars said.

The company also noted the lithium hub's accessibility provides relatively lower exploration costs than James Bay, and the area has a fully operating lithium concentrator and a planned lithium carbonate/hydroxide conversion plant.

Work Planning Begins

American Salars said the new claim blocks are about 430 meters west of the Viau Showing, which has sampled 2.77% LiO2 over 3.2 meters and 3,680 parts per million (ppm) beryllium (Be) over 1.65 meters and 1.37% LiO2 over 3.20 meters.

The best contents reported by selected samples include 1.745% Li, 3.39% Li, 0.753% Li, 2.14% Li, 174.5 ppm tantalum (Ta), and samples 1 kilometer north of Refined Metals' "Ile du Refuge" Lithium that assayed 5.8% Ta2O5, 83% U3O8, and 2.1% Li.

In addition to these new Lac Simard Nord claims, the company’s previously announced and 100% owned Lac Simard South project is located 95 kilometers southwest of Sayona and Piedmont’s North American Lithium Mine project and spans the townships of Beauneville, Clérion, Delbreuil, and ChabertIt, accessible by gravel road off Route 117 near Cadillac.

The claims in the eastern sector are accessible by a network of logging roads, and the southern and western sectors are accessible by boat or all-terrain vehicle and have very little overburden, American Salars said.

The company will now begin planning for a comprehensive work program to identify targets and test areas of immediate interest in this "active lithium exploration, production and processing region of mining friendly Quebec."

Under the agreement with Quartier Mineral Ltd. of Quebec, American Salars said it is acquiring a 100% interest in Lac Simard Nord by issuing 50,000 common shares to the vendor.

A Growing Portfolio

The company's existing portfolio of lithium deposits includes two NI 43-101-compliant Inferred Mineral Resource Estimates (MREs) consisting of 457,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at the Candela 2 Lithium Brine Project and a shared MRE at the Pocitos 1 Lithium Brine Project consisting of 760,000 tonnes LCE. The Pocitos MRE is shared with the neighboring Pocitos 2 property, which is not under contract or owned by American Salars, but the company noted that none of the drilling that makes up a partial basis for the MRE took place on the Pocitos 2 block. Both brine projects are located in Salta Province, Argentina.

Technical Analyst Clive Maund wrote that the entire desert basin that contains the project is a "highly prospective lithium exploration zone."

American Salars also recently released assay results from soil samples collected during its Phase 1 exploration program at its 100%-owned Black Rock South lithium project close to Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada. Out of 38 samples, 33 recorded lithium concentration of more than 100 ppm or higher, the company said. The highest grade was 180.5 ppm with an average grade of 131 ppm across the 33 samples of the surface of the property.

Technical Analyst Clive Maund wrote that the entire desert basin that contains the project is a "highly prospective lithium exploration zone."*

"After a massive speculative runup in 2020 and especially in 2021, the lithium price fell victim to a severe bear market that ran from mid-2022 through the end of 2023," Maund wrote. "By the end of last year, this bear market had exhausted itself, and a basing process began that has continued up to the present."

Black Rock South is also 215 miles northwest of the United States' only producing lithium mine, the Silver Peak lithium brine mine owned by Albemarle Corp. (ALB:NYSE).

The Catalyst: 'Growth, Opportunity' on Horizon

Lithium prices have slumped this year after electric vehicle (EV) sales didn't hit predicted marks, but many experts expect the market will recover.

According to a report by Grand View Research, market size for the metal was estimated at US$31.75 billion last year and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.7% from this year through 2030.

"The automotive application segment is expected to witness substantial growth, driven by stringent regulations imposed by government bodies on ICE automakers to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles," researchers at Grand View said. "This has shifted the interest of automakers toward producing EVs, which is anticipated to benefit the demand for lithium and related products."

Lithium is critical in the energy transition for its use in batteries for EVs and other application and is also used in electronics, medicine, and other industries.

EVs and battery storage primarily will fuel future growth of the lithium market, Marin Katusa of Katusa Research wrote recently. He pointed out that all major electric vehicle batteries require lithium, about 1.55 pounds per kilowatt hour of battery capacity, on average.

"I think the data speaks for itself that there's more growth and opportunity on the horizon," Katusa wrote.

Ownership and Share Structure

American Salars said it has 28.8 million shares outstanding and 5.5 million warrants, according to the company.

As for insiders, the CEO Horsley owns about 1.83 million, or about 7.37%, with 4666,666 warrants. Strategic investor Hillcrest Merchant Partners owns 1 million shares or 4.03%. There are no institutional investors, and the rest is retail.

Its market cap is CA$2.01 million. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.45 and CA$0.06.