Lithium Energy Products Partners With Argentum Silver Corporation

2018-07-10 / @thenewswire

(TheNewswire)

Vancouver, British Columbia / TheNewswire / July 10, 2018. LITHIUM ENERGY PRODUCTS INC. ("Lithium Energy Products” or “LEP” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: LEP) (FRANKFURT: N8I) is pleased to announce the signing of a minority partnership agreement with Argentum Silver Corporation.

LEP signed an agreement with Argentum on July 2nd 2018, agreeing the sale of 80% interest in the Vanadium Ridge Property (the “Property”) to Argentum, consisting of 20 mining claims, covering over 5,200 acres, situated 40 minutes by road from Kamloops, British Columbia. In exchange Argentum has agreed to pay LEP $150,000 and issue LEP 1.25MM Argentum shares. LEP will also retain a carried interest of 20% interest in the project 2 years from the date of the agreement.

Argentum is majority owned by ‘Sprott Mining Incorporated,’ and with Sprott’s backing Argentum is seeking to become a leading Energy Metals company to supply the increasing demand for battery metals. The Vanadium Ridge acquisition is the first project Argentum and Sprott have identified to help achieve their goal, and LEP has entered into the agreement as it believes Argentum and Sprott are best positioned to exploit the project’s potential.

The property is a vanadium-rich magnetite deposit, discovered by a Provincial Government airborne magnetic survey, which found an intense magnetic anomaly near Barriere. Follow up surface mapping and ground geophysics resulted in well-defined magnetic anomalies and a vanadium-rich magnetite deposit exposed right at surface. Initial metallurgical testing of the magnetite/vanadium samples by ALS, Australia, produced concentrate averaging 67% iron (Fe203), 93% magnetite (Fe304), and 0.74% vanadium, indicating the potential to produce a concentrate for direct shipping material. These assays also indicate that the magnetite is coarse-grained, soft, and that silica is not bound in magnetite. Crushing produces a good liberation of silica, resulting in a high-grade magnetite concentrate, even in samples with disseminated magnetite1.

James Walker, CEO of LEP said, “We are very pleased to have entered into this arrangement with Argentum. We believe they have the resources, expertise and backing that will take the project to production using their professional and efficient practices, and we are very pleased to be part of that enterprise. LEP will benefit not just from the received Argentum shares, but also from being a minority stakeholder in a large operation it believes will prove successful.”

The market has also not been slow recognising vanadium as a hot commodity. Forbes noted that “the latest, greatest utility-scale battery storage technology to emerge on the commercial market is the vanadium redox battery.” A recent Bloomberg article noted that the vanadium pentoxide price soared more than 130% in 2017, outperforming better-known battery components like cobalt, lithium and nickel. The Bank of Montreal published recent research noting that Chinese vanadium pricing would see significant further upside as the market adjusts to lower Chinese shipments due to the upgrade of Chinese rebar standards and the growing adoption of vanadium redox batteries. Fittingly, the vanadium pentoxide price has increased 40% in 2018 to date, with European V2O5 price at US$14.1/lb., surpassing the Chinese V2O5 price of $13.8/lb., an anomaly not often seen, demonstrating global shortage of vanadium inventories.

--Raul Sanabria, P.Geo., is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release. Mr. Sanabria is not independent to the Company as he is a shareholder. The property has not been the subject of a NI 43-101 report.

About Lithium Energy Products Ltd.

Lithium Energy Products has 3 highly prospective properties in Kamloops, Nevada and Arizona.

Vanadium Ridge Project – Barriere, British Columbia

-20% owned - 5213 acres – 20 claims

-50km north of Kamloops.

-Airborne magnetic survey detected an intense magnetic anomaly. A vanadium-rich magnetite deposit was subsequently discovered.

-Preliminary diamond drilling discovered multiple massive magnetite seams and pods. All drill holes intersected broad intervals of magnetite mineralization

-Initial metallurgical testing of the magnetite / vanadium produced concentrate averaging 67% iron, 93% magnetite, and 0.74% vanadium.

-These assays indicate that the magnetite is coarse-grained, soft, and that silica is not bound in magnetite. Crushing produces a good liberation of silica at 106 microns resulting in a high-grade magnetite concentrate even in samples with disseminated magnetite.

Favourable logistics are excellent: Rail, high power transmission lines and a highway run through the property. It is located just over 300 km from a shipping port in Vancouver, B.C.

Jackpot Lake –Moapa Valley, Nevada

-100% owned - 2800 acres – 140 claims

-35 km NE of Las Vegas

-1976 USGS completed 129 core samples; highest Lithium value was 550 ppm, average 175 ppm

-Spectrographic and atomic-absorption analyses of 135 stream sediment samples confirmed potential for lithium mineral deposits.

Wilcox Playa –Arizona

-1400 acres on shore of Wilcox Playa – Dry lake bed

-In 1976 USGS identified this area as one of the most prospective locations for lithium brines and highly analogous to Clayton Valley

-The USGS has identified a 22-sq. mile anomaly with high electrical conductivity, interpreted as subsurface brine field with no hydrological outlet.

The company is also the owner of five iron (magnetite) properties in the Red Lake District in the Province of Ontario. The Red Lake District is an established mining region where Lithium Energy Products has two near term development projects, the past producing Griffith mine and the Karas property.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

For further information, please contact:
James Walker
CEO
Lithium Energy Products Ltd.

Tel: 604-566-8570
Fax: 604-602-9868

Email: jwalker@lithiumenergyproducts.com

Website: www.LithiumEnergyProducts.com

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