Golden Hope Lithium
Results to Date
Sokoman reported the best lithium drill results at Golden Hope on 16 February 2023.
https://sokomanmineralscorp.com/2023/02/16/sokoman-and-benton-report-kraken-lithium-discovery-best-drill-intercepts-to-date/
What is notable is that grades are on a par with other spodumene deposits (3rd last page):
https://tantalexlithium.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Tantalex-Corporate-Presentation_Q1-2023.pdf
Also, what is notable are the wide scarn widths and showings over a large land package area.
Also:
"Soil geochemistry continues to expand the overall footprint of potential lithium- (+/- cesium, tantalum and rubidium) enriched dykes at least 2,000 m to the northeast of the known mineralization at the Killick Zone (see Figure 4). Soil anomalies in lithium are of a similar tenor (less than detection limit to 390 ppm Li) to those over known mineralization that have recently been received and are priority prospecting targets for this spring."
Demand
Lithium from spodumene, the primary source of lithium globally, is in short supply due demand from the rising production of electrical vehicles. The pace of production is picking up significantly in 2023 not just because of environmental concerns but also because oil production can no longer keep up with demand and oil prices have risen sharply. Prices have been kept under control for the last year with U.S. administration release of oil from its strategic oil reserves. However, that will not last and as soon as that ends the oil prices will resume climbing well over $100 a barrel. They are edging back up again in the second half of March.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/ev-car-sales-energy-environment-gas/
Apart from an incentive to avoid rising gasoline prices, resistence to electrical car adoption is falling as new battery technology is extending driving range and reducing charging time. There are two significant new developments on that front.
First
Amprius Technologies announced 4 days ago the developement of a 500wh/kg battery and a few weeks ago announced it is building a production facility in Colorado to go into production in 2025.
Currently, Amprius batteries are being used in high end critical mission applications.
This is the battery that is going to be going into electric cars. They go twice the distance and charge much faster.
https://amprius.com/technology/
https://amprius.com/products/
https://amprius.com/the-all-new-amprius-500-wh-kg-battery-platform-is-here/
https://amprius.com/amprius-technologies-selects-colorado-for-gigawatt-hour-scale-factory-site/
Second
Full electricfication of vehicles is not possible but there is an additional solution. While there have been hybrid engine/battery cofigurations there is a new engine development that is taking a quantum leap in this direction.
Liquid Pistion has enginered a new rotary engine that is 10x more powerful and 30% more efficient. In a hybrid configuration a car woulcd only require 1/3 of the battery capacity.
If you carefully watch the engine operate you will see that totally unlike coventional ICE the combustion air comes in through the piston itself and not through the housing. That means the incoming air is keeping the piston cool.
https://www.liquidpiston.com/
Development of Deposits
Capital plant costs and processing costs are about to decline considerably.
Medaro Mining is piloting a new process for manufacture of lithium carbonate that will reduce processing costs significantly and capital requirements for plants. The plant will be compact, modular, highly scalable, and amenable to deployment in remote geographic locations.
https://medaromining.com/
https://medaromining.com/medaro-mining-announces-shortlist-of-locations-for-lithium-extraction-pilot-plant/
https://medaromining.com/technology/
Country Support
In addition to the need to address environmental and depleting oil reserves, under mounting United States geopolitical conflict the United States is retrenching toward isolationist polices that include on-shoring critical metal sourcing and processing, and semi-conductor and battery manufacturing,
The following article gives insight to American geopolitical thinking on the importance of critical elements to semiconductors and their interest in Canadian critical elements.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/world-war-31
Both the United States and Canada have instituted programs to support projects.
United States
There is the inflation reduction Act.
For example, under the U.S. Defence Production Act Canadian companies can apply for U.S. military funding a CBC article said, 13 November 2022. U.S. visitors have been to Sokoman.
In response to that article Sokoman President Tim Fourde said on 16 November 2022
"…we have already had visitors from the US……..actually visiting the property.
We’re on it sir!
Tim"
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/u-s-military-mining-projects-canada-1.6649522
Something to note in the CBC article says that the U.S. funding is primarily grants:
"Zolnowski said the U.S. is looking primarily at offering grants, not loans, and it's willing to fund projects at various phases of implementation, as it views this as a long-term project.
One partner at an investment firm present at the conference said the Pentagon's role is not to become a major investor."
For example, Japan and U.S. reach deal to cooperate on Critical Metals.
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/US-And-Japan-Close-Critical-Minerals-Deal-To-Counter-Chinas-EV-Dominance.html
Canada
Canda funding a 4 billion dollar critical metals program:
https://www.canada.ca/en/campaign/critical-minerals-in-canada/canadian-critical-minerals-strategy.html
For example:
https://themarketherald.ca/ottawa-to-ramp-up-investments-in-junior-miners-2023-03-10/
https://stockhouse.com/news/press-releases/2023/03/08/fpx-nickel-receives-funding-from-government-of-canada-to-scale-up-production-of
Lithium Overview
https://global-macro-monitor.com/2023/03/06/swimming-downstream-in-the-lithium-triangle/