Two huge companies already in the Clayton ValleyAll the numbers being debated are really big. But those numbers are just numbers on paper. Nothing wrong with that, it where we are right now.
IMHO the two best chances are one of the two world class industrial companies already in the valley:
1. Albemarle, with their infrastucture already there, ALB would be one that could be best positioned to make money off our huge resource. They have plenty of remaining room on their patent lands to build a new plant. Big advantage in building the processing facility on private land. They are a huge chemical company and could get to work further improving processes. They have the water and the know how.
2. Schlumberger Technology Corp. , a division of another massive industrial company, already in the valley apprently slowly picking at how to produce lithium with new technology due to their earn in with Pure Energy. Whether they would be intrested in mudstone sourced lithium vs brine is a question as they are world leaders in subsurface, liquid hosted resources, oil and gas, and now in small way, lithium brine.
Both would drive a hard deal, as will anyone else, over paying for undeveloped resources is definetly not the way the mining industry is going these days due to spectacular blunders of the last decade. Anyway, it is a good thing to have two huge companies already there after lithium.
Tesla might step up to contract for the lithium product but it hard to imagine them wanting to get into the mining business, they are really busy already extending hugely the travel range of lithium battery vehicals and busy in many other related projects. That said,a Nevada based source of lithium might be very attractive to them anyway, espeially if the lithium comes from a mine that is run as a low impact developement.
Our project is worth what a company is willing pay for it. Hopefully this question works out to our satisfaction.