VANCOUVER,
British Columbia, July 30, 2012
/PRNewswire/ -- International Lithium Corp. ("ILC" or the
"Company") (ILC: TSX-V) is pleased to announce that GFL
International Co. Ltd, an investment company wholly owned by
Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. ("Ganfeng Lithium"), a leading
China based multi-product lithium
manufacturer has entered into a Letter of Intent ("LOI") option to
earn a 75% interest in ILC's Blackstairs project in Ireland.
In recent discussions with GFL, a strategic partner and equity
stakeholder in ILC, the Blackstairs project was identified as a
highly prospective lithium exploration prospect. The Blackstairs
project is located 80 kilometers south of Dublin in Ireland's Leinster Pegmatite Belt, an
extensive lithium bearing pegmatite belt that extends for over 50
kilometers. ILC currently has a 100% interest in eight prospecting
licenses covering 292 square kilometers. Evidence of high-grade
lithium is identified at surface by boulder occurrences. Past
exploration efforts were hampered by the lack of outcropping
pegmatite. ILC will apply modern exploration technologies to
highlight areas for drill testing.
Under the terms of the LOI GFL will earn a 75% interest in the
Blackstairs project by:
- Producing a bankable feasibility study within ten years of
entering into the venture,
- Incurring a minimum of $150,000
in exploration expenditures per year, and
- Making $500,000 in cash payments
to ILC over a three year period, $100,000 upon signing of a final agreement,
$100,000 on the first anniversary and
$300,000 on the second
anniversary.
In addition, GFL has entered into a LOI to lend ILC a total of
$2,000,000 to advance the Company's
Mariana Lithium-Potassium Brine project in Argentina and for general corporate
purposes.
Ganfeng will advance ILC $1
million as soon as possible with the second $1 million advanced within the following two
months. The first $1 million advance,
or portion thereof, is convertible into shares of the Company at a
price of $0.10 per share, during the
first year of the agreement. ILC will pay interest of 10% per
annum, payable quarterly.
The term of the loan is for one year with the provision for ILC
to extend to two years by issuing additional bonus shares.
GFL will receive a total of 500,000 bonus shares of ILC for the
initial loan for one year with up to an additional 500,000 shares
payable if the Company elects to extend the entire $2 million loan to two years.
Both the LOI's are non-binding with final
agreements subject to approval by the Ganfeng Lithium Board,
Chinese Securities Regulatory and Exchange Commission, the TSX
Venture Exchange and any required Canadian Regulatory
approvals.
"These transactions provide International Lithium with a
tremendous opportunity to rapidly advance our assets and
specifically propel us to the critical resource delineation stage
of our main Mariana Lithium-Potassium brine project in Argentina. The support and confidence
Ganfeng Lithium has given ILC is a
testament to our success in identifying multiple high quality
projects within our portfolio of assets." states
Kirill Klip, President, International Lithium
Corp.
"These transactions are in line with Ganfeng Lithium's
long term goal to secure the raw material supply to meet the
potential future demand on Lithium products." States Xiaoshen Wang,
VP executive of Ganfeng Lithium.
International Lithium Corp.'s management is looking forward to
advancing key projects and expanding the Company's operations to
its full capabilities alongside strategic partner Ganfeng
Lithium.
About Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd.
Ganfeng Lithium based in Xinyu, Jiangxi
Province, China, is a
professional producer of lithium products which has developed a
comprehensive product chain, including lithium metal and alloys,
inorganic and organic lithium chemicals, supplies a wide range of
lithium products for primary and secondary lithium battery market,
pharmaceutical and new material industries. Ganfeng's principal
market is in China with
international exports to Europe,
Japan, USA and India. The company was founded in the year
2000, it was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in August 2010, notably as the first publicly listed
lithium company in China and has
experienced rapid continuous growth over the last 11 years.
About the Blackstairs Project
The Blackstairs project, comprised of eight mineral exploration
licences totalling 292 square kilometres, is located 80 km south of
Dublin straddling the Counties of
Carlow and Wicklow in Leinster, south-east Ireland. The Property encompasses an extensive
NE-SW oriented 50 kilometre long rare metals pegmatite belt
situated within the East Carlow Deformation Zone along the eastern
side of the Leinster Granite. Approximately 19 significant lithium
pegmatite occurrences have been discovered within the Property to
date primarily as boulder trails with five buried pegmatites known
through past trenching and drilling.
Due to the prevalent overburden cover and scarcity of outcrop,
prospecting for lithium pegmatite boulders was the most successful
exploration method utilised to identify priority target areas. The
Aclare House occurrence, situated in the center of the Property was
initially discovered through this exploration approach.
A pre-NI43-101 historical resource of 570,000 tonnes grading
1.5% Li2O was reported at Aclare House. (A Qualified Person has not
done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current
mineral resources, the issuer is not treating the historical
estimate as current mineral resources and the historical estimate
should not be relied upon.)
Other drilling highlights include 1.85% Li2O over 5.3 metres at
Stranakelly and 1.66% Li2O over 9.4 meters at Moylisha.
The observed lithium bearing pegmatites and extensive boulder
occurrences within the Property represent a highly prospective and
underexplored region. In addition, the recent discovery of a high
concentration of pegmatite boulders reporting grades exceeding 4%
Li2O at Moylisha only serve to highlight the exploration potential
of the Property.
John Harrop, P.Geo, is the
Company's Qualified Person on the project as required under NI
43-101 and has reviewed the technical information contained in this
press release.
About International Lithium Corp.
International Lithium Corp. is an exploration company with an
outstanding portfolio of projects, strong management ownership,
robust financial support and a strategic partner and keystone
investor Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd., a leading China based lithium product manufacturer.
ILC currently has 9 active rare metals projects, well balanced
between lithium-potash brines in Argentina, Nevada and hard-rock pegmatites in
Canada and Ireland. The Company's primary focus is the
Mariana lithium-potash brine project, a salar or 'salt lake',
covering an expansive 160 square kilometres and strategically
encompassing the entire basin. Mariana is located in the renowned
South American 'Lithium Belt' centred on the junction of
Argentina, Bolivia and Chile that is host to the vast majority of
global lithium resources, reserves and production. The Mariana
lithium-potash brine project ranks as one of the more prospective
salars in the region.
Complementing the Company's lithium brine projects are the rare
metals pegmatite properties. The key characteristics shared by the
hard-rock rare metals projects are their limited past exploration,
excellent accessibility and limited assaying for rare metals. All
of which imply a clear potential for additional exploration and
development as well as added project value to meet the global
technological growth in demand for the rare metals suite of
elements.
International Lithium Corp.'s mandate is to increase shareholder
value through aggressive advancement of its core projects and to
source joint venture partners to expand the scope and diversify
risk of its exploration effort.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Kirill Klip
President International Lithium Corp.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release. Statements in this press release other
than purely historical information, historical estimates should not
be relied upon, including statements relating to the Company's
future plans and objectives or expected results, are
forward-looking statements. News release contains certain
"Forward-Looking Statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of
the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions and
are subject to all of the risks and uncertainties inherent in the
Company's business, including risks inherent in resource
exploration and development. As a result, actual results may vary
materially from those described in the forward-looking
statements.
Stock Symbol: ILC:TSXV
Shares CUSIP: #459820 10 6
Warrants Symbol: ILC.WT
Warrant CUSIP: #459820 11
4
620 - 650 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6B 4N9, Canada
Voice: (604) 687-7551
Fax: (604) 687-4670
1-800-667-4470
E-mail: info@internationallithium.com
Website: http://www.internationallithium.com
SOURCE International Lithium Corp.