Rover Metals Corp [TSXV: ROVR / FSE: 4X0] has announced a non-brokered private placement financing in the range of CAD 300,000 to CAD 1.25m, with a price set at CAD 0.08 per unit. Each unit is composed of one common share and one common share purchase warrant. The warrants have an exercise price of CAD 0.12 per share with a shelf life of 2.5 years from issue.
Rover Metals confirmed at the end of last week that it had received orders for CAD 500,000 and has also received approval from the Toronto Venture Exchange to close the first tranche of the unit financing for gross proceeds of CAD 500,000. We understand there will be a final close before the end of the week. The financing is being led by experienced investors in the lithium sector located in Europe and Australia.
Claystone lithium project in SW Nevada
Rover Metals is currently focused on a claystone lithium project in southwest Nevada. Plans for 2023 include a reverse circulation drill program at its Let’s Go Lithium project. The project is located on approximately 6000 acres of Bureau of Land Management land within the prolific Nevada claystone lithium jurisdiction.
The current BLM permit allows Rover Metals Corp to drill up to 30 holes to a depth of 90m per hole. The project, which is located 12km ENE of the historic Franklin Wells hectorite mine includes green energy infrastructure (e.g. hydropower lines on-site).
- Mineral & Financial Investments: flexibility to take advantage of global trends
- Can Western battery tech companies benefit from proposed China restrictions?
- Podcast: China export restrictions could boost battery tech sector
Rover has already verified high grade lithium surface samples at the project. Samples have included highs in the 710ppm to 910ppm range. Additional surface grab samples have hit as high as 1218ppm. Historic water well drill logs spread across the Let’s Go Lithium site suggest an average thickness of approximately 105m to the local clay beds.
Nevada claystone lithium projects are increasingly becoming an area of strategic focus for the US battery metals sector. In January the Rhyolite Ridge project received a USD 700m conditional loan from the US Department of Energy Loan Programs Office while in the same month American Lithium TSXV:LI announced a successful pilot plant processing of lithium carbonate from its TLC project.
In February General Motors announced a plan to invest USD 65m into the Thacker Pass project near Reno, which is also home to the Tesla battery factory.
The time is now for claystone lithium mining
Claystone lithium mining is continuing to disrupt an industry that is trying to reinvent itself to become more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Mining of claystone uses less water than traditional brine lithium mining. The majority of the claystone lithium projects are also nearer the surface than hard rock lithium projects and as a result are less intrusive to underground ecosystems.
Additionally, claystone lithium mining operations require a more simplified mining circuit to process lithium. Ongoing innovation in the space, for example by Century Lithium [TSXV:LCE], are continuing to drive down the cash per production tonne of lithium carbonate. A pre-feasibility study from Century Lithium for its Clayton Valley project in Nevada estimates the cash cost per tonne of between USD 2500 and USD 4000 per tonne. This puts that project’s production costs well within industry standards.
