TORONTO, Aug. 24, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lithium Energi Exploration, Inc. (TSXV:LEXI) (“LEXI” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has executed an agreement (the “Agreement”) with IBC Advanced Technologies, Inc. of American Fork, Utah, USA (“IBC”) to utilize IBC’s proprietary metals separation technology, known as Molecular Recognition Technology (“MRT”) for selective lithium extraction in Argentina. From testing to commercial operations, MRT has repeatedly been proven as one of the most advanced, efficient, and eco-friendly refining technologies in the world for segregating metals in both mining and recycling with up to 99.99% purity.
“With MRT’s proven record in separating platinum group metals, rare earths, and alkali metals, we believe that IBC’s designer molecules, applied to selective lithium extraction, will significantly expedite LEXI’s path to production in Catamarca Province,” noted LEXI’s CEO, Steven Howard, adding that “the remarkable success of IBC’s chemical engineering team in the arena of engineering and manufacturing complex, ligand-based components, is evidenced by IBC’s extensive development and commercialization of separation systems at mining and industrial sites around the world.”
Under the Agreement, IBC will be responsible for completing basic engineering specifications and drawings, process design and throughput calculations, brine testing and ligand selections for the MRT plant. For providing the services, LEXI will pay IBC USD $600,000 in cash over the next 12 months and issue 5,000,000 common shares of the Company. Under the Agreement, LEXI will incur future additional costs for site licensing and/or similar engineering services for other commercially viable minerals. IBC will also have the right to a 10% carry-forward interest in the assets of, and 8% of the net profit from, any MRT plants developed by LEXI and IBC under the Agreement. In exchange for completing its payments under the Agreement, LEXI will have the exclusive right of first refusal to obtain site license(s) to use MRT for the separation, recovery, refining and purification of lithium from brine prospects in territories comprising approx. 20,000 square kilometers (7,500 square miles) in two areas of Catamarca Province, specifically including all of the areas in and around the salars of Antofalla, Hombre Muerto, and Pipanaco.
In regard to the Agreement, IBC’s President, Steven Izatt stated, “We believe LEXI’s management team and extensive property package provide a great foundation to build a significant, lithium processing presence for MRT in Argentina.” Izatt added, “At IBC, we have spent nearly 30 years in MRT research and have installed commercial applications at client operations all over the world. As the global community quickens the pace to move to more green energy alternatives, we believe that green chemistry will play a decisive role in that progress. This premise underscores our belief that MRT will emerge as one of the preeminent separation technologies for lithium, due to its unparalleled advantages in reducing speed to market, capital and operating costs, and adverse environmental impacts.”
All of the securities to be issued pursuant to the Agreement are subject to TSX Venture approval and the applicable U.S. and Canadian hold periods.
About Lithium Energi Exploration, Inc.
Lithium Energi Exploration, Inc. is an exploration company focused on the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of lithium brine assets in Argentina. The Company is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and has offices in Dallas, Texas and Catamarca, Argentina. The common shares of the Company are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV:LEXI). The Company recently completed the acquisition of a portfolio of projects comprising over 128,000 hectares of lithium brine concessions in the Argentina Province of Catamarca in the heart of the lithium triangle.
