Western Leaders Seeking Diverse Lithium Supplies to Reduce Worrisome Dependence on China

FN Media Group Presents USA News Group News Commentary

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- USA News Group: US President Joe Biden recently met with Latin American leaders, as part of a broader effort to reduce American dependence on China. The move isn't isolated, after a worrisome research paper was presented to EU leaders urging a dire need to diversify away from China towards Africa and Latin America as demand for lithium-ion batteries and fuel cells balloons by 2030. Industry leaders are taking the need to decouple seriously, with Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) moving ahead on putting its new lithium refinery in Texas online sooner than anticipated, while lithium miners continue development of their new projects, such as those from Lithium South Development Corporation (TSXV:LIS) (OTCQB:LISMF), Alpha Lithium Corporation (NEO:ALLI) (OTCPK:APHLF), Sigma Lithium Corporation (NASDAQ:SGML) (TSXV:SGML), and Piedmont Lithium Inc. (NASDAQ:PLL).

With its flagship asset located in Salta Province, Argentina, Lithium South Development Corporation (TSXV:LIS) (OTCQB:LISMF ) is strategically positioned within the world famous Lithium Triangle. With recent developments at the project, LIS appears to be on the cusp of a breakthrough. Located directly next door to Korean giant Posco's $4-billion lithium project, Lithium South is reporting the installation of the first production well at its HMN Li Project, with a pump test to follow immediately after the hole is cased and screened.

The announcement came swiftly on the heels of a previous announcement from Lithium South, stating that the company is preparing an updated NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), using a newly upgraded Measured resource of 1.58 million tonnes Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE). Taking into consideration current market conditions and pricing for LCE, Lithium South projects that the new report will use an Initial Design Capacity (IDC) of 15,000 tonnes per year LCE production.

The now up-to-date calculation represented a 175% increase through a newly updated NI 43-101 Technical Report in the HMN Li's total lithium brine resource from 571,000 tonnes to 1,583,100 tonnes LCE at an average grade of 736 mg/L, with a low average magnesium (a brine contaminant) to lithium ratio of just 3.27

"We are very pleased with our new updated lithium resource at the HMN Li Project," said Fernando Villarroel, COO and Project Manager for Lithium South. "The quality of the brine has exceeded our expectations."