MGX Minerals Inc entered into an Option Agreement with A.I.S. Resources (TSX.V: AIS) to acquire an 80% interest in the Salinitas lithium brine mining tenements located in the lithium triangle of Argentina, Salar de Salinas Grandes, Province of Salta.
The expansion, on top of a $238 million upgrade due for completion in April, will double the mine’s production to 1.95 million tonnes a year of lithium concentrate a year from 2020.
It has decided not to go ahead with a proposed $100-million share sale to help it fund the Mexican project.
The London Metal Exchange has asked companies that assess prices of battery-grade lithium to submit proposals to supply a reference for the cash-settled contracts it plans to launch next year.
Company plans to complete a feasibility study next year, which will reveal whether the proposed $800 million, underground lithium-uranium mine can and should be built.
Financial Times says the LME will launch a cash-settled lithium contract in the second half of 2019, which would allow traders to speculate on prices for the metal.
Canadian junior MGX has entered into an option agreement to earn into the Kibby Basin lithium brine project, in Nevada.
Salar Blanco, which is 50 percent-owned by Lithium Power International, has dropped a lawsuit against Chile to block state-run Codelco from exploiting a lithium deposit where both have claims.
The Chilean government said Salar Blanco could apply for a special operating license for its Maricunga project.