Diversified miner MGX Minerals has entered into an option agreement to earn into the Kibby Basin lithium brine project, in the western portion of the Great basin in Nevada, the Canadian firm announced on Friday.
MGX will acquire an initial 25% interest in Kibby Basin from TSX-V-listed Belmont Resources by funding up to C$300 000 for a drilling programme. The target area will be an anomaly discovered by a magnetotelluric survey carried out by Belmont in January this year.
The agreement allows MGX to earn an additional 25% interest in Kibby Basin by funding a further C$300 000 in exploration expenditures for drilling, at which time the project will become a 50:50 joint venture with access to MGX's rapid lithium extraction technology.
MGX’s rapid recovery process concentrates lithium, magnesium and other minerals from a variety of brines, including oil and gas wastewater, natural brine and industrial plant wastewater. The process uses a nano-filtration technology that uses a proprietary design process currently covered under patent and patent-pending applications.
MGX has also agreed to acquire four-million units of Belmont at $0.05 a unit in the form of a non-brokered private placement.