Desert Lion anticipates phased development of former Rubicon lithium mine
Desert Lion, which holds a 100% interest in the Desert Lion Energy Lithium Project said that since acquiring the project they have completed approximately 4,500 metres of diamond drilling to test the lateral and depth continuation of the Rubicon extensions and of satellite bodies immediately surrounding the historic mine site.
The past producing lithium mine as well as the surrounding 301 km2 prospecting area is located near Karibib in the Erongo Region. In a recent update, the company said intersections to date that have been explored cover depths from 1 to 9 metres, all with significant lithium mineralisation of about 2% on average.
The company said the Desert Lion team has established a three-phase development programme, which they anticipates will start with concentrate sales from the stockpiled material on site when the former mine was still operational. This they anticipate to materialise before the end of the year.
For the second phase, Desert Lion will focus on the development of a mine and concentrator where some mining will carried out as part of the pilot project allowed by the Exclusive Prospecting License from the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
The third phase is an optional lithium carbonate conversion plant, which the company said, tentatively they are considering Walvis Bay as the locality.
Earlier this week, the company said that they have also completed a non-brokered private placement of an aggregate of 4,343,636 units at a price of US$1.82 per unit for gross proceeds of almost US$8 million. Another placement planned at a later stage, will raise an additional US$5 million.
“We believe Desert Lion Energy will start trading by year-end 2017 at which time we plan to be able to announce that we are producing as part of the Phase 1 production, with the first shipment shortly thereafter. Further we will have completed a large portion of the current drill programme and expect very good results to share with the market,” the company stated.
Meanwhile, a fortnight ago Camex Energy Corp. and Desert Lion Energy Corp. announced that they entered into a definitive amalgamation agreement dated 12 October 2017, according to a globenewswire source, in preparation for a so-called reverse listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The agreement will see Camex acquire all of the issued and outstanding ordinary shares of Desert Lion in exchange for securities of Camex. The transaction will further be carried out by way of a three-cornered amalgamation. As a result, Camex will continue the business of Desert Lion under the name “Desert Lion Energy Inc.”
Desert Lion said it is focused on providing a long term sustainable solution for the low-cost supply of high quality lithium chemicals. The brownfield lithium mines of Rubicon, Helikon and Mircolite were first discovered in the 1930s and have a long history of lithium mining operations.
