Melbourne, July 1, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Lithium Universe Limited (
ASX:LU7) is pleased to announce a successful trip by key leadership members to Eastern Canada. The delegation, led by CEO Alex Hanly and including Chairman Iggy Tan, Board Directors Patrick Scallan and Dr. Jingyuan Liu, and Canadian Director, Victoria Vargas, engaged with government stakeholders, community partners, and industry peers.
Highlights
- Strong engagement from Federal, Provincial and Local Government
- Becancour Lithium Refinery well aligned with Provincial strategy
- Mature local government support and project understanding
- LU7 Lithium Carbonate Refinery is regional innovation
- Hatch is leader in the field of lithium refinery engineering
The meetings in Montreal, Becancour, Quebec City, and Ottawa reinforced the Company's strategy to address the Lithium Conversion Gap in North America and provided updates on our engineering progress and commercial discussions. This trip underscores Lithium Universe's commitment to advancing its initiatives and fostering strong relationships in the region.
Ministry of Economics, Innovation, and Energy
The Company is pleased to announce a productive meeting in Quebec City with the Honourable Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economics, Innovation, and Energy. This follows our initial presentation of the Company's unique strategy in November 2023 in Dubai. Once again, Minister Fitzgibbon expressed enthusiasm for our engineering progress, the acquisition of the Option agreement within the Becancour Industrial Park, and the Hydro-Quebec application for an estimated 22.5MW energy allocation for our Becancour Lithium Refinery.
Lithium Universe emphasized Quebec's strategic benefits, including hydroelectric power, proximity to the James Bay region, and logistic advantages with port access to the transatlantic region. The Minister reiterated his support for our vision of transforming Quebec into the Centre of Lithium Conversion for the transatlantic region. The Company is impressed with the forward-thinking provincial government of Quebec and the progress of the Strategic Innovation Zone under the pragmatic guidance of Minister Fitzgibbon.
Becancour Waterfront Industrial Park (BWIP)
The Company once again met with key executives from the Becancour Waterfront Industrial Park (BWIP) in Becancour. The BWIP is strategically situated just south of Trois-Rivieres, between Montreal and Quebec City. The site offers excellent access to a major highway, cross-continental railway, all-weather port, and cost-effective, green hydroelectric power. The meeting focused on the Company's progress in site evaluation activities and included a presentation on the process design, featuring pictures from a reference lithium carbonate refinery. The port was confirmed to have the capacity to manage 50,000-ton bulk shipments, exceeding the Company's initial requirements. The Company had the opportunity to inspect Lot 22, view the proximity to infrastructure and immediate tie-in to existing BWIP utilities.
The SPIPB team provided an overview of planned expansions and facility upgrades to the onsite infrastructure, positioning Becancour as a leader in offering prime industrial real estate in Quebec. The Company is excited to be part of this significant regional development and is committed to participating in various community initiatives to integrate the industrial site into the wider community.
Municipality of Becancour
The Company met with the Mayoress of Becancour to discuss our objectives to contribute to the local economy by providing hundreds of employment opportunities and helping to realize its economic potential. We reaffirmed our commitment to the Becancour and wider Trois-Rivieres region, pledging to support various social, community, and environmental initiatives in the coming years. The Mayoress expressed enthusiasm for the Company's plans within the SPIPB, recognizing the development of a proven and reliable design with internationally aligned process outputs. We were pleased with the Mayoress' thorough understanding of the battery supply chain and the key drivers of the energy transformation underway throughout North America.
Provincial Government - Quebec
The Company met with key delegates in Montreal from Investissement Quebec (IQ), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MRNF), Energy Transition Valley Innovation Zone, and the Ministry of the Environment, the Fight Against Climate Change, Wildlife and Parks. The provincial government has identified a lithium conversion gap within the supply chain, crucial for servicing the expected increase in spodumene supply from the James Bay region in the coming years. The Company's extensive experience, proven track record, and established technology made our strategy to address this lithium conversion gap well-received across provincial government departments. Quebec is a North American leader in attracting foreign direct investment, sustainable development, and supporting battery metals projects. The province has a strong history of supporting lithium battery supply chain development, with significant provincial and federal government incentives.
Recent government support includes the General Motors (GM) and Korea-based POSCO Chemicals' US$1 billion cathode active material (CAM) factory, the Ford/EcoPro BM US$800 million cathode factory, and Northvolt's US$7 billion EV Battery Facility at Saint-Basile-le-Grand. This creates a favourable regulatory environment for the Company's project, ensuring robust support throughout the cycle.
Canadian Federal Government - Ottawa
The Company met with various federal government stakeholders from Invest in Canada (IIC), Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN), Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), and Export Development Canada (EDC). During the meeting, the Company outlined its strategy to address the Lithium Conversion Gap in North America and provided updates on our progress. Given the lack of refining capacity in Canada, our lithium carbonate plant is an innovative project, as there are no current operating or planned facilities of this kind within the country. Building lithium conversion capacity alongside spodumene mines will enable Canada to become wholly self-sufficient in the lithium chemical supply chain.
Stakeholders praised the Company's proactive approach in aligning with the federal strategy to decouple supply chains from China. The Company was impressed with the federal stakeholders' knowledge and practical approach to developing critical supply chains. This initiative aligns well with the recent Cooperation on Critical Minerals agreement released in March 2024 between the Australian and Canadian governments, highlighting a commitment to responsibly grow the global sustainable supply of critical minerals.
Hatch - Montreal
The Company and our engineering partner, Hatch Ltd, held a productive meeting at the Montreal office, where we aligned on our shared culture and fast-track development vision. We discussed the benefits of our "same process, same equipment, same supplier" strategy, which minimizes technical risks, ensures quality, and reduces costs within an expedient timeframe. The operational environments in Australia and Canada share many similarities, facilitating the integration of skills into Quebec. Hatch's leadership in building lithium conversion facilities and tackling challenging projects validates our decision to partner with engineering firm. Furthermore, through this collaboration, we are excited to highlight Hatch's expertise as the premier lithium refinery engineering expert.
Lithium Universe Chairman, Iggy Tan said, "The reception from federal, provincial and local government delegates has left a very positive impression on the LU7 Board of Directors. The region has made strong commitments since releasing the Critical Minerals Strategies four years ago and we have seen that in the significant investments made within the battery supply chain and pragmatic discussions held with key government executives. We look forward to advancing the Company's Becancour Lithium Refinery to contribute in making Quebec the lithium conversion centre within the Transatlantic region."
About Lithium Universe Ltd
Lithium Universe Ltd (ASX:LU7) (OTCMKTS:ESMAF), headed by industry trail blazer, Iggy Tan, and the Lithium Universe team has a proven track record of fast-tracking lithium projects, demonstrated by the successful development of the Mt Cattlin spodumene project for Galaxy Resources Limited.
Instead of exploring for the sake of exploration, Lithium Universe's mission is to quickly obtain a resource and construct a spodumene-producing mine in Quebec, Canada. Unlike many other Lithium exploration companies, Lithium Universe possesses the essential expertise and skills to develop and construct profitable projects.
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