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Lithium Ionic (TSX-V: LTH) (OTCQB: LTHCF) is a Canadian based lithium company who has grown its land package ten-fold since Q1 2021 when it first staked its 1,300 hectare property in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil. Brazil, particularly the state of Minas Gerais, is a very well-known jurisdiction as a major producer and exporter of precious metals and minerals. In fact, Brazil ranks as one of the five biggest producers of minerals in the world and has been a producer of lithium since 1991.
The Itinga Project
Located in the southeast of Brazil in the mining friendly state of Minas Gerais, Lithium Ionic holds a staggering 14,182 hectares, and is situated within The Eastern Brazilian Pegmatite Province (EBPP), which is one of the largest geological belts of granitic pegmatites with high quality lithium-bearing petalite and spodumene in the world. The EBPP span 150,000 km2 from the state of Bahia to Rio de Janeiro and is the most favourable mining jurisdiction in Brazil with a diverse range of minerals and a supportive regulatory environment for mining companies.
The Itinga Project includes Lithium Ionic’s flagship properties which covers 8,470 hectares, in the municipalities of Araçuaí and Itinga. The municipality of Itinga is quickly emerging as one of if not the most important hard-rock lithium districts in the world after the Greenbushes Basin and Pilgangoora Basin in Australia with LTH developing some of the best land in the district.
LTH is currently focused on aggressively drilling two of the properties within its Itinga Project, named Bandeira and Galvani, with the aim of delivering an initial mineral resource estimate in Q2 2023. Both properties are in close proximity to the Cachoeira mine which is owned by Companhia Brasileira de Lítio’s (CBL). The Cachoeira mine is Brazil’s only lithium mine and has been producing lithium for 30 years! The Itinga Project is also next door to Sigma Lithium’s (TSX-V: SGML) (NASDAQ: SGML) construction-stage Grota do Cirilo Project which is expecting its first lithium production this month. Along with CBL, Sigma has been paving the way for lithium mining in Brazil creating local jobs and value for shareholders. In 2020, Sigma Lithium traded as low as $1.30 per share in June 2020 and has since hit an all-time high of $54.00 on October 31, 2022. For those invested, that’s s a staggering 4,071% in under 3 years! What’s more, is that SGML received their construction permits just 18 months after their initial mineral resource estimate. Can Lithium Ionic follow as similar path?
As a lead-up to their mineral resource estimate slated for Q2 2023, Lithium Ionic is undergoing a 30,000-metre drill program at their Bandeira and Galvani properties with 22,000 metres already drilled to date. Eight drills are currently in operation, with both targets hosting high lithium grades over significant widths.
On April 11, 2023, LTH announced more impressive assays results at Galvani with drill intercept highlights including:
At the time of announcing the above, Blake Hylands, P.Geo., Chief Executive Officer of Lithium Ionic, commented, “The Galvani target, and our properties extending from it, show huge exploration potential and remain a key focus for our future campaigns. As we work towards completing the infill and definition drilling program at Galvani, the latest results reaffirm the continuity and scale of the large mineralized pegmatites at this target. With the results from the Galvani and Bandeira properties, we are very optimistic about delivering a sizable and high-grade mineral resource estimate in the near-term, as an initial step to delineating much larger resources for significant future growth.”
Other notable intercepts from Bandeira and Galvani included:
Bandeira Drill Highlights:
Galvani Drill Highlights:
Last week, after releasing the company's best hole drilled to date which consisted of 1.43% Li2O over 17.1m, 1.73% Li2O over 13.6m and 1.47% Li2O over 15m, Lithium Ionic CEO Mr. Blake Hylands stated “These results are the widest and most significant intercepts we have seen to date at Bandeira. We’re very encouraged to have identified several new, well mineralized pegmatites and extensions. The greater thickness of these newly discovered mineralized dikes will positively impact the resource inventory we are delineating on the property. We continue to aggressively drill Bandeira with the objective of delivering an initial NI 43-101 resource estimate in the next quarter, which will form the basis for the development of a feasibility study in the second half of the year.”
The company is also already taking initial steps with permitting and is expected to produce an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment study this year.
The Salinas Project
On March 13, Lithium Ionic completed the acquisition of Brazilian based mineral company Neolit Minerals Participações Ltda. (“Neolit”), The Salinas project spans 5,713 hectares and consists of 9 exploration tenements and sits just 100 kilometres north of LTH’s Itinga Project. It is also extremely noteworthy that the Salinas Project is adjacent to Latin Resources' mineral resource of 13.3Mt @ 1.3% Li2O.
Following the acquisition of Neolit, the company’s founder and CEO Dr. André Guimarães will join Lithium Ionic and be appointed as Vice-President of Business Development. Mr. Guimarães was quoted “The potential to expand existing pegmatites and identify new ones is very exciting and Lithium Ionic will allow us to expedite the development of the project. We admire Lithium Ionic’s experienced and proven technical and corporate team who have demonstrated their strong abilities through the rapid development of the Itinga and Galvani Projects and feel privileged to now be part of the team.”
In 2022, Neolit completed a successful 4,000 metre, 24-hole drill program, which confirmed several mineralized pegmatites with a strike length of up to 500 metres. Intercept highlights include:
Lithium Ionic is planning to initiate a 20,000-metre drill program in the coming months at Salinas to follow up on the excellent initial drill results.
Management Team
The founders and executive management behind Lithium Ionic have over 80 years of cumulative experience in Brazil and have a proven track record in mine exploration and development and capital markets.
The company’s CEO, Blake Hylands, is the co-founder of Troilus Gold Corp. (TSX: TLG) where he was responsible for leading the team in discovering over 8 million gold equivalent ounces in Northern Québec during its earliest stages. If you aren’t familiar with Troilus Gold, we suggest you check out a recent article we wrote on Troilus Gold entitled “3 Promising Gold Stocks To Watch”.
Additional notable members of Lithium Ionic includes its President, Mr. Hélio Diniz, a 40-year veteran in the mining industry who served important roles at GENCOR South Africa, where Mr. Diniz played a major role in the evaluation and development of the Sao Bento mine, which is located in Brazil and is currently operated by Eldorado Gold Corp., a $2.5 Billion dollar gold company.
Cap Structure
Lithium Ionic has a large ownership from both insiders and institutional investors, as management and insiders hold 23%, with institutional investors owning 27% of LTH. This leaves approximately 60 million shares of the 121 million shares to be held by retail investors, making Lithium Ionic (TSX-V: LTH) (OTCQB: LTHCF) a fairly tight share structure.
As of April 4, 2023, LTH’s cash position was approximately $20 million, allowing the company to execute on its disciplined development plan for at least the next 20 months.