July 4 (Reuters) - Neo Lithium Corp, a small lithium
exploration company with a recent discovery in Argentina, is
planning to list on Canada's TSX Venture Exchange around July
15, its chief executive, Waldo Perez, said on Monday.
The company, which owns the 3Q brine-reservoir lithium
project in northwest Argentina, is fully funded for now after
three recent rounds of financing brought in C$18 million ($14.01
million), Perez said in an interview.
"But we have a very aggressive business plan to develop the
project... so there may be other financings coming," said Perez,
who is the former CEO of Lithium Americas LAC.TO and the
founder of its Cauchari project in Argentina.
Lithium forms a small but irreplaceable component of
rechargeable batteries, used in electric cars and consumer
devices like mobile phones.
Prices have soared in the past year, and demand is set to
outstrip supply by 2023, according to specialist consultants
Stormcrow Capital. Shares in some lithium companies have more
than tripled in value this year as investors and speculators
have piled in.
Most lithium is produced in Australia and Chile, with the
bulk of the world's reserves straddling huge salt flats in
Chile, Bolivia and Argentina.
Early sampling at Neo Lithium's 3Q project, which was only
discovered this past December, suggests high lithium grades and
low impurities, Dundee Securities' analysts said in a June 13
report.
The company is readying for a drill program at 3Q in the
spring to produce resource and reserve estimates. Its goal is to
start building brine ponds next year and to be able to have a
concentrated lithium-containing brine in about two years time,
Perez said.
($1 = 1.2851 Canadian dollars)