J.C. St-Amour's Imagine Lithium Inc. (ILI) closed unchanged at five cents on 370,000 shares. The company has signed a memorandum of understanding -- a not-yet-a-deal deal -- with Dirk Harbecke's Rock Tech Lithium Inc. (RCK) to "explore co-operation opportunities" on their respective projects in the Nipigon district of Northwestern Ontario. Rock Lake, down seven cents to $1.14 on 10,000 shares, is pressing ahead with its 5,700-hectare Georgia Lake lithium property, while Imagine Lithium has been plodding along with its larger but less advanced 19,000-hectare Jackpot lithium property. The two projects share a common boundary.
Mr. St-Amour, Imagine Lithium's president, "appreciates the joint development opportunities" presented by the proximity of the two properties, cheering that collaboration with Rock Tech would only strengthen the potential economics of a standalone development in the area. Mr. St-Amour applauds his company's "ongoing drill success" at Jackpot, noting that after a winter drill program wraps up, he expects to complete a resource estimate in spring.
Over at Rock Tech, Mr. Harbecke, chairman and chief executive officer, cheered that the "growth potential is enormous" if he and his crew collaborate with their neighbours in the area. "We have already demonstrated that we can derive real economic value from our mineral resources," he enthused, blathering that "developing accretive synergies" in the southern pegmatite area with their neighbour "provides a genuine opportunity to transform the region into a leading lithium hub."
That demonstration occurred a year ago, when Rock Tech rolled out a prefeasibility study of Georgia Lake, based on a reserve of 7.33 million tonnes grading 0.82 per cent lithium oxide. That was roughly half of the available resource -- 10.6 million tonnes indicated at 0.88 per cent and 4.2 million tonnes inferred at 1 per cent -- but enough to support a $192-million (U.S.) mine that would run for nine years at up to 3,000 tonnes per day.
The bottom line was attractive, with a discounted net present value of $146-million (U.S.) and an internal rate of return topping 35 per cent. And so, Mr. Harbecke and his crew touted plans to take Georgia Lake to feasibility, but adding more ore to the plan looks to be a promotable diversion -- hence the chats and tentative arrangement with Mr. St-Amour and Imagine.