ACME Lithium (ACME) - 2 Projects Next to N. America’s Only Lithium Mines

ACME Lithium Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on advancing its battery metal assets in Nevada and Manitoba. The company’s asset portfolio consists of the Clayton Valley and the Fish Lake Valley projects in Nevada and the Cat-Euclid Lake, Shatford Lake and Birse Lake projects in Manitoba. The Clayton Valley project of the company holds a land position of approximately 2,975 acres and is located next to the Silver Peak lithium mine owned and operated by the Albemarle Corporation. The project has the potential to host lithium brines similar to the Silver Peak lithium mine. The Fish Lake valley project of the company has shown mineralisation of up to 200 ppm of lithium within claystone and is located next to the Rhyolite Ridge Lithium-Boron Project owned by Ioneer Ltd.

ACME Lithium Inc. announced on the 7th of November 2022, that it had received approval for a “Notice of Intent to Drill” submitted by its project operator GeoXplor Corp. The approval was obtained from the United States Bureau of Land Management and regarding the company’s phase 2 drill program at the Clayton Valley Lithium Brine project.

The company also announced at the end of November 2022, that GeoXplor Corp. received the necessary approval required to drill three Dissolved Mineral Resource Exploration (DMRE) Boreholes. A USD$ 63,144 bond has been put in place between ACME Lithium Inc. and the United States Bureau of Land Management to cover the reclamation of up to 2.2 acres of permitted disturbance. The drilling contractor has also been appointed, with preliminary works including road and drill pad preparations, as well as the expansion of on-site facilities to accommodate core logging and brine storage having been initiated.

ACME Lithium Inc. is well financed and sits with a cash position of USD$ 10 million. The company plans to implement its funds towards the advancement of its projects in the future, with it able to conduct exploration initiatives at its Clayton Valley project as well as its projects in Manitoba.

How ACME lithium fits in a Contrarian investment strategy

Contrarian investment is the term used to refer to an investment strategy in which an investor purposefully goes against the grain. A contrarian investor buys when most of the market is selling and sells when most of the market is buying. Stephen Hanson the President, CEO and Founder of ACME Lithium Inc. explains a contrarian investment strategy as one where opportunity is created through hardship. A contrarian investment strategy will see a downed market as an opportunity to enter at a reasonable price and have enough understanding and knowledge to know that the market will increase.

“In challenging circumstances there creates opportunity. I think for investors, it’s understanding the dynamics that are taking place and taking a sharpshooter approach here in being very precise as to the type of investments they want to look at.”

Hanson believes that the Lithium sector is a market which is set to grow for multiple years, due to the need for electrical storage systems, be it for the storage of energy for domestic supply or electric vehicles.

“I think the lithium sector is something that is going to have a multi-year if not a multi-decade run here as demand continues to outpace supply, and I think it’s a place where investors should continue to look for opportunities.”

The company’s Nevada-based projects are ideally situated to supply the North American lithium market, with the majority of lithium globally produced by Australia, China, Chile and Argentina.

“The majority of lithium is currently produced in only a handful of countries, including Australia, China, Chile and Argentina, and most investors are unaware that lithium isn’t commonly produced in Europe and domestically in North America. There are only 2 places in North America, in fact, where lithium is currently produced and that’s in Clayton Valley, Nevada, where we have a neighbouring project, and in Southeastern Manitoba, where we have a group of projects.”

Hanson believes that the current dynamics of the global lithium and battery markets create the ideal global environment for lithium exploration and development companies. The environment bestows an ideal opportunity for contrarian investors, with the market at a low point, compared to various forecasts of the market in the future.

“It’s hard to believe, we open our cell phones and our tablets, and our laptops and we use our cordless power tools and now our hybrids and EVs. We take it for granted that these core commodities are going to be available, and that’s in fact not the case. As battery factories are being built throughout Europe, the United States and Canada, where are we going to get this core lithium supply? If we have to rely on only a handful of countries, it’s going to be a challenge. As well, we absolutely need a larger supply to meet up with this never-ending increasing demand. Every number that’s being forecasted is being blown out of the water. So, it bodes well for companies that are in active exploration and development.”

Clayton Valley and Fish Lake Exploration

ACME Lithium Inc. announced on the 7th of November 2022, that it had received approval for a “Notice of Intent to Drill” submitted by its project operator GeoXplor Corp. The approval was obtained from the United States Bureau of Land Management and is regarding the company’s phase 2 drill program at the Clayton Valley Lithium Brine project.

The company also announced at the end of November 2022, that GeoXplor Corp. also received the necessary approval required to drill three Dissolved Mineral Resource Exploration (DMRE) Boreholes. A USD$ 63,144 bond has been put in place between ACME Lithium Inc. and the United States Bureau of Land Management to cover the reclamation of up to 2.2 acres of permitted disturbance. The drilling contractor has also been appointed, with preliminary works including road and drill pad preparations, as well as the expansion of on-site facilities to accommodate core logging and brine storage having been initiated. Hanson explains that the phase 2 drilling program aims to enable the publishing of an inferred mineral resource estimate for the project.

“My goal here is to get to an inferred resource. That’s really the key goal here, to have some metrics, and that means we need scale, and we need the grade. If this program is successful and we meet this milestone, my hope is that we’ll be able to get to an inferred resource in 2023.”

The completion of the phase 2 drilling program will enable ACME Lithium Inc. to progress its exploration initiatives into a phase 3 drilling program at the Clayton Valley project, which will be aimed at further delineating mineral resources amongst others. The company is also underway with the evaluation of implementing direct lithium extraction (DRE) technologies, with the aim being to implement the technology at the project in the future. The main advantage of DRE technology as Hanson explains is the smaller environmental footprint left.

“That then will result in us moving into a phase 3 program. In parallel, we are working on what’s called Direct Lithium Extraction technology. There are a number of companies that are pouring millions if not tens of millions of dollars into this new technology. It’s where rather than using brine ponds, you pump the brine into a plant or facility and then ultimately inject the water back into the aquifer. So, you use a smaller footprint, there’s less capital required, again it’s a more environmentally friendly technology rather than using brine ponds, which is the traditional way that brine discoveries and products are used.”

ACME Lithium Inc. has also encountered various mineralisation anomalies at its Fish Lake project. The company is primarily focused on its Clayton Valley project however but investigate and decide upon the further exploration of the Fish Lake project in the future.

“We do have lots of interesting data to date. We’re seeing some good hits and sampling on lithium on the surface. We think some of the geology is very similar to what that major project is and has found. We just recently completed some geophysics there and we’ve got some clay targets that look interesting. So, I’ll be making a drilling decision on that project sometime over the next couple of months. We’re focused more on Clayton Valley, but we think there are some really interesting things taking place at Fish Lake Valley. Again, a clay project, with good sampling results on the surface, the geophysics has certainly identified a number of targets that we want to go after, and we’ll make a drilling decision on that project here in the next couple of months.”

The future of the North American Lithium Market

The North American Lithium market has been able to develop the downstream aspects of the lithium sector, with North America readily advancing its processing and battery production facilities. Hanson however notes that not enough emphasis has been placed on the upstream side of the supply chain, namely the development of lithium production operations.

“I think a lot of the focus has been on the downstream situation. We’re seeing announcements almost every few weeks where a new battery factory is being built in Canada and the United States. There are announcements about processing as well, and we talk about the EV manufacturers. Again, a lot of focus has been on the downstream side. I think we need to continue to advocate on the upstream side as to how we’re going to create a domestic supply.”

He however notes that the development of upstream facilities has been supported on the governmental and federal levels, but that more support is required from state and provincial governments.

“I do believe that some good things are starting to happen at the federal level in the US and Canada. We need to see it at the state and provincial level as well, and all stakeholders and rights holders need to advocate for this industry. The reality is if we want to have carbon emissions reduced and the train’s left the station here, we’re going to have EVs and hybrids and they’re going to be bought in large numbers.”

Hanson believes that with the impending expansion in the market, the lithium sector will be supported enabling the mass adoption of electric vehicles.

“It’s estimated there are 3 million people on waiting lists for EVs right now globally, and that’s continuing to increase. So, with this demand coming, we need to continue to advocate for our industry. The mineral resource sector is not a no-impact industry. What we want to create is a low-impact industry where we use best practices, ESG issues are very important, and we need to continue to educate and advocate for our industry to make sure that we get through the permitting process.”

Cash position and future.

ACME Lithium Inc. is well financed and sits with a cash position of USD$ 10 million. The company plans to implement its funds towards the advancement of its projects in the future, with it able to conduct exploration initiatives at its Clayton Valley project as well as its projects in Manitoba. The company is awaiting the mobilisation of its drilling contractor at its Clayton Valley project, from where it will initiate the exploration drilling program. The company aims to initiate the drilling program by late 2022, or early 2023.

“We are fortunate as a junior explorer and developer that we do have capital. I’ve been well financed and backed by a number of key institutions that have funded me through last year, and we have just under USD$10 million in the bank. For some companies, that’s not a lot of money. For a junior explorer, it’s significant. I have enough money to continue this phase 2 program in Clayton Valley and do this winter drill program here in Manitoba, and then I will have funds left over and running room to run our business for a period of time.”

To find out more, go to the ACME Lithium website