What was the strategy that lead Argosy Minerals to focus its operations on lithium in South America, and how does the company intend to fund its project there?

 Up until about 15 months ago, it was difficult in the mineral sector to gain interest and funding. As a smaller company, we were therefore compelled to follow the current market interests in lithium. There is a considerable amount of hard rock lithium in Australia, however, we felt at the time that better opportunities presented in Argentina. Given the significance of the recent presidential election in Argentina, we found it a very attractive proposition to consider, and identified some solid lithium opportunities in the region, managing to attract investment for our strategy. Argosy Minerals has projects elsewhere, but given the quality of the projects and partnerships in Argentina, we felt it was where we would have the best opportunity to be successful. Our most recent capital raising brought in A$3 million in late October, which is being used for our Stage 1 development plan to produce up to 100-150 tonnes of lithium carbonate and to construct a small-scale laboratory pilot plant at the Rincon Project. We are therefore funded for stage one, which takes us through 2017.

What role does Argosy Minerals see the rapid growth of the Chinese market playing in impacting the evolving lithium landscape?

The substantial jump in price demonstrates the worldwide trend towards lithium, but when we visited China recently, we were struck by the magnitude of the opportunity there as well. We spoke to several different parties that are not necessarily interested specifically in lithium, but that are very interested in battery manufacturing and lithium conversion. Plants are being constructed that do not have adequate supply or off-take arrangements, however the support provided by the Chinese government for electrical vehicles all contribute to the sense that there is a tidal wave of interest in the sector. Argosy Minerals therefore feels that we are on the right path with our strategy of fast-track development at our Rincon Project, and we aim to benefit from this interest.

What support does Argosy Minerals gain from being based in WA as opposed to other jurisdictions?

WA is a mining state, and the people and the country understand the importance of investing in junior mining companies. Sourcing funding here is easier than other jurisdictions, and we have a strong network of investors in Perth. Likewise, the general retail investment community are more understanding of the higher risk associated with exploration. It is built into our psyche as a mining state that with higher risks come higher rewards, and people seem willing to support that.

What process will Argosy Minerals use to extract lithium?

All the largest lithium brine operations use traditional solar evaporation processes to ultimately produce lithium carbonate, and Argosy Minerals intends to do the same. New technologies are being developed, however, none seem to have become commercialized. We will follow the conventional path of solar evaporation of the brines from our ponds to produce a lithium brine concentrate, and then process through a plant to produce lithium carbonate product. As a small company, we do not have the funds to experiment on new technologies, and we do not feel the need to reinvent the wheel currently. Our priority at present is to produce lithium carbonate, however we do have the expertise to consider R&D on new technologies once we progress to commercial operations at our Project. 

How many people do you have currently working on the ground, and how do you source this skilled labor?

We are working with our principal chemical engineer and industrial engineer who have extensive production experience in the lithium industry and have the expertise to successfully develop our operation. Given that the process of producing lithium carbonate is very sensitive, we do feel it is important to maintain our IP and expert knowledge in-house to keep our competitive advantage. We also have local geologists, administrative personnel, marketing people, and a team of lawyers and accountants mostly working as consultants at this stage. In total, around 15 to 20 people in Salta and Buenos Aires ensure that our business can progress on a day-to-day basis.