Livent Opts Out of the Joint Development Project Due to Resource and Capital Considerations
Livent Opts Out of the Joint Development
Project Due to Resource and Capital
Considerations
CALGARY, AB
,
Nov. 26, 2020
/CNW/ - E3 METALS CORP. (TSXV: ETMC) (FSE: OU7A) (OTC:
EEMMF) (the "Company" or "E3 Metals"), an emerging lithium developer and leading lithium
extraction technology innovator, announced today that FMC Lithium
USA
Corp. ("Livent") has
decided to opt out of the Joint Development Agreement in place between the two organizations.
In communicating the decision, Livent expressed confidence in the E3 Metals technology and in the
world class
Leduc
aquifer, but said resource and capital allocation considerations forced its decision
to withdraw. E3 Metals appreciates the work Livent has funded and its input to date. Significant
achievements have been made in advancing the technology towards commercialization and the
foundation is solidly in place to complete the process. The Company plans to commercialize the
developments completed through the partnership with Livent. Despite opting out of the existing
agreement, Livent has expressed interest to E3 Metals in working together to further advance the
DLE technology under a different deal structure.
E3 Metals will continue to deploy the Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology as planned. The
Calgary
testing facility will be opened in early 2021 and work will continue towards construction and
operation of the Field Pilot Plant to fully demonstrate the capabilities and effectiveness of E3 Metals'
DLE technology.
As specified in the Joint Development Agreement with Livent, all licenses and rights to the
technology will be retained and returned entirely to E3 Metals. In addition, the Company has
benefitted from the advancement in the technology and the
C$2 million
contributed by Livent including
over
C$450,000
of capital not spent to date.
Furthermore, E3 Metals will no longer be obligated to issue Livent 19.9% of its share capital,
represented by 7,929,368 shares to be issued on top of 594,068 warrants (the "Warrants") currently
held by Livent. The Warrants which are exercisable at a price of
$0.40
per share will be returned to
treasury for cancellation.
"We see the opportunity with the technology E3 Metals is developing for use at the Leduc
Formation." commented
Paul Graves
, CEO of Livent Corp. "Our decision does not reflect a view on
the likely success of E3 in developing the Leduc Formation. The decision by Livent not to move to
the next phase of joint development that was contemplated by the original development agreement is
driven by Livent's own resource and capital allocation choices. We have appreciated working with
the E3 team and wish them every success in their endeavors."
"E3's team of experts will complete the remaining development work as scheduled," said
Chris
Doornbos
, E3 Metals' President and CEO. "We respect Livent's position and their capital
constraints; the capital deployed to date from Livent has supported the significant advancements and
major milestones achieved, including a DLE technology benchtop pilot prototype. We value the
collaboration from Livent, especially their technical team, who have contributed to E3 Metals
achieving these major milestones on the development of our technology. All of this, in addition to the
recently completed PEA, will allow E3 to advance discussions with interested potential partners. As
we look to the future, E3 Metals will continue to power the growing electrical revolution."
About E3 Metals
E3 Metals is a lithium development company with 7.0 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent
(LCE) inferred mineral resources in
Alberta
and an after-tax NPV
8%
on its Clearwater Lithium
Project of
USD 1.1B
with a 32%
1
IRR. Through the successful scale up its DLE process towards
commercialization, E3 Metals' goal is to produce high purity, battery grade, lithium products. With a
significant lithium resource and innovative technology solutions, E3 Metals has the potential to deliver
lithium to market from one of the best jurisdictions in the world. E3 Metals also continues to work
with partners at the
University of Alberta
and at GreenCentre Canada. For more information about
E3 Metals, visit
http://www.e3metalscorp.com
.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
"Chris Doornbos"
President & CEO
E3 METALS CORP.
1: A summary of the Clearwater Lithium Project PEA is outlined in the
November 16, 2020
news
announcement, with a NI 43-101 Technical Report expected to be filed within 45 days from that
date. E3 Metals has also released information on three 43-101 Technical Reports totaling a
resource of 6.7 Mt LCE. The Central Clearwater Resource Area (CCRA) Technical Report,
identifying 1.9Mt LCE (inferred), is dated effective
October 27, 2017
, and the North Rocky Resource
Area (NRRA) Technical Report was dated effective
October 27, 2017
, identifies 0.9Mt LCE
(inferred). A third report for the Exshaw West Resource Area (EWRA), identifies 3.9Mt LCE
(inferred) and was filed on
June 15, 2018
, effective
June 4, 2018
. All reports are available on
SEDAR (
www.sedar.com
)
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in
the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
This news release includes certain forward-looking statements concerning the potential of the
Company's projects and technology, as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and
intentions. Forward looking statements are frequently identified by such words as "may", "will",
"plan", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "intend" and similar words referring to future events and
results. Forward-looking statements are based on the current opinions and expectations of
management. All forward-looking information is inherently uncertain and subject to a variety of
assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including the speculative nature of mineral exploration and
development, fluctuating commodity prices, the effectiveness and feasibility of emerging lithium
extraction technologies which have not yet been tested or proven on a commercial scale or on the
Company's brine, competitive risks and the availability of financing, as described in more detail in our
recent securities filings available at
http://www.sedar.com/
. Actual events or results may differ
materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements and we caution against placing
undue reliance thereon. We assume no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking
statements except as required by applicable law.
SOURCE
E3 Metals Corp.
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http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2020/26/c5863.html
%SEDAR: 00011471E
For further information:
Email: [email protected], Phone: 587 324 2775
CO: E3 Metals Corp.
CNW 20:27e 26-NOV-20