Okay. Let's now introduce our final guest. As promised. He is a lawyer, not an engineer as many believe, including me, Dr. Ulises Solis. Good evening, Dr. Solis.
How are you Oscar, good night and thanks for the invitation.
Welcome. Last week we presented in this program a report where we showed to the world, in reality, because it had not been shown before, the lithium deposit that you have discovered. Please tell us today, that's why we invited you, tell us the story. How did you discover this lithium deposit?
Well Oscar, first of all, I must congratulate you and your program because you have been the only journalistic program that has visited the area, and that fills us with pride. Because not only you the journalists should go, but also the authorities. The INGEMMET, the Ministry of Energy and Mines, they should visit us but to see the existence of adversity...
Yes, because there are people, and we also fell into that, who say "no, this must be false, such beauty cannot be true", and that is why we went, Mr. Solis.
Now that I see the images, the sample your guys took, the journalists that went there, that sample threw 2,100 ppm. I mean, it's there! The site exists, the site is...
It was discovered 2 years ago.
To be precise, the site was discovered in October 2017.
But you have been there not only for 2 years, you have been there for at least 13.
We are there since 2006. We started with 800 hectares, at that time we were called Global Gold, but we were in the Corani area looking for uranium, as uranium explorers, and like us there were 7 foreign companies. We must have done something well in our lives, because little by little we have consolidated the entire Corani area and have reached 151 mining concessions with 93,000 hectares. These 7 companies that were there are known to the mining world in the country; Solex, Vena Resources, Minergia, Contact Uranium (Australian), all of them foreign companies. We have consolidated via transfer of mining rights, via merger between companies, via transfer of shares or participations, joint ventures. In the end, we became the owners of all these deposits, but not only of the claims but also of the resources that these companies had found in their exploration stage.
Now, two years ago you discovered this immense site of what you call "lithium in rock". Didn’t you? The equivalent lithium. What differentiates yours ... What differentiates this deposit ... this is very important, Mr. Solis, from what exists today (of lithium) in, specifically, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina?
What we have found, as you well said, is lithium in rock. We found this at the end of 2017 in a community called Chacaconiza. We achieved an agreement with this community. We already knew about the existence of lithium, because in our resources as of December 2016, which were presented at the PDAC of 2017, and Mr. Oscar Bernuy, may he rest in peace, was a witness next to me, when we indicated that there were 175 thousand tons of lithium carbonate equivalent as resources, he was surprised. “Is there lithium?” "Yes, and there is a lithium deposit for sure." Because that was what made the difference with other mining sites.
But when we entered, I repeat again, in October 2017 to this community of Chacaconiza, we drilled, we saw that there was no uranium, but we found the lithium deposit. We found it, we searched for it, we searched for it, because as I repeat, there were already precedents, there were already antecedents that lithium existed.
But then, initially, it was 2.7 million, how is it?
No, we as of June 30th, 2018... because we entered with a single drilling machine in 2017. When we saw the results, then, it is logical, the shareholders wanted to invest more; we carried up to five drilling machines. And as of June 30th, 2018 we had 2.5 million tons of equivalent lithium carbonate...
But in the report we have not talked about 2.5, we have talked about 4.7...
Why? Because the exploration work continued. And the 4.7 million tons of lithium carbonate is as of December 31st, 2018, when we finished drilling because the agreement...
Then there could be more. More, Mr. Solis?
That’s for sure…
Sorry to interrupt you, because what we want is to get the most of you before this program comes to end. In addition to quantity, we are talking about quality. Please explain to the world audience of the program what is the difference in the quality of lithium that we have in Peru.
In South America there is the triangle of lithium, which is made up of Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. Chile is one of the leading lithium producers in the world at the moment. But all their lithium is in salt flats, our lithium is in rock, it is on the hill as you can see it. It will be exploited as an open pit, like conventional mining. The grades of lithium in these salt flats, they work with an average of 600 to 700 ppm...
Particles per million, for the public to understand. Little more than 600...
We plan to work on 3,000 ppm.
3,000 versus 600...
They cannot move, they cannot increase their production much because it is a lake; they have to take out the lithium, they have to take it out of the lake and put it in pools and wait for it to decay...
To sift, of course, of course...
Do I let myself understand? Then they cannot make much movement because they are going to destroy the lakes, they are going to dry the lakes. Instead, ours is conventional mining...
That point is very clear. Now, really, Mr. Solis,... could we really become the second largest lithium producer in the world and a few years later the first?
It is true, it is true. Like people did not believe. For example, we are so accepted abroad; in Chile, in Argentina, in Bolivia, they invite us to a series of exhibitions, because our lithium has come to have a purity of 99.74% before refining, and the prices of lithium carbonate are fixed ... they have greater value when they have more than 99.5% purity. We are at 99.74%, and the latest results have reached 99.82%. Not made by us, made by ANSTO in Australia, which has mines like ours. Then our lithium ... we are a blessed country! Puno is a blessed region, Puno is going to be favored with this site. 4.7 million tons of lithium carbonate at an initial production of 60 thousand tons of lithium carbonate ... Puno has a field that ensures a life of 80 years.
Two final questions before we run out of time. One, how do you get along with the communities? Because you have ... I think there are five or six communities that you live with.
We are in the district of Corani, Corani has five communities: Chacaconiza, Ishvilla, Quelcaya, the community of Corani itself, and Aimaa. Our relationships are good, I can't say excellent because there are always people... but they are good. We have everyone's permission, and what we like most is that communities are autonomous in their decisions. They have their peasant rounds of each community, and then they have the district round. Our relations from the beginning have been good with the communities, I personally travel, interview with them, work with them, stay with them, and the community members who watch this program...
We have seen, we have witnessed...
I always send greetings ... and I have to adapt, I am very direct with them, the most important thing for a community is not to promise what we will not be able to accomplish.
Last question. What do you need from the State? Do you need anything from the State to start producing, to realize this dream for Peru?
(Ulysses smiles) It's incredible, Don Oscar. All mining projects have social problems; this project has no social problems. But it does have problems with the State. Recently the State ... intends to expire 32 mining concessions ... ok, we are fighting for this legally, we will go to the Judiciary ... but our will continue. That is a problem for lawyers, the lawyers will take care of it, they will see how to...
But it's not that you haven't paid for your claims...
We...
You have paid...
We have paid the validity, we have how to prove it and everything, but it is a matter of logic to say “When is the last day of payment?”, “Such day. But you have to credit the payment before 4:30 pm”. "Hey, but then it's not the last payday on that day, because the bank serves until 6pm and I can do it online until midnight." But how do I credit if you close the office at 4:30 pm? It is a story that for those who know it well... tedious, we see it as a mockery, as an abuse of law ... but well, Don Oscar,…
But let's not lose optimism.
Not at all, and we are moving on, we will continue working...
And we will pay attention because we believe that this project has to be a reality, Mr. Solis.
We will be in the PERUMIN, we will expose, you...
Well yes, let's meet there...
We are going to see each other...
...anyway over there, and we'll talk.
Thank you very much for the invitation.
Thanks to you.