Overview
Hertz Lithium (CSE:HZ) is an exploration and development mining company focusing on its hard-rock lithium asset in Arizona. The company’s flagship Lucky Mica lithium property has historical sampling results indicating lithium concentrations up to 2,450 parts per million (ppm). Hertz Lithium has completed initial exploration and current estimates indicate the potential for the asset to become a leader in the North American lithium market.
The lithium market is expected to grow by a CAGR of 8.1 percent between 2021 and 2028, reaching US$6.62 billion, driven primarily by a growing interest in electric vehicles (EV) and other clean energy technologies. As a result, EV sales increased by 55 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, which is expected to continue. One of the biggest drivers for growth in the EV market is America’s recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act which, among other things, provides significant incentives for EV manufacturers and buyers, as well as grants for zero-emission heavy duty vehicles.
In close proximity to the Lucky Mica is the Patriot Lithium’s Wickenburg (ASX:PAT) project, which has already released promising exploration results, with an evaluation of ASD$24.9 million. Three pegmatites have been mapped to date at the Wickenburg’s Dove pegmatite that exhibit potential for spodumene mineralization, with surface expression can be traced along strike for at least ~440 meters at the Dove West pegmatite and ~430 meters at the Dove East pegmatites. These results reflect the potential for Hertz’s Lucky Mica project.
Hard-rock lithium varies from the commonly found lithium brine type of deposits and is more economical to extract as there is no need for the time-intensive evaporation process. Hard-rock deposits are characterized by pegmatite intrusions amenable to open-pit mining. Once mined, refining involves crushing, milling and flotation cells to separate ore.
Hertz Lithium has entered into an option agreement with Penn State University to license the worldwide rights for economic lithium extraction technologies focusing on hard-rock lithium. Although the company’s asset is amenable to economic methods compared to lithium-brine, it also believes there is potential for further development of more cost-effective methods. Hertz has also partnered with Lepidico to leverage the company’s patented L-Max extraction technology.
Company Highlights
- Hertz Lithium is an exploration and development mining company currently exploring its prospective Arizona hard-rock lithium asset.
- The Arizona Pegmatite Belt Arizona Pegmatite Belt is a 400-kilometer-long and 50- to 130-kilometer wide basement, with pegmatites that occur in igneous and metamorphic rocks of Precambrian age, largely covered by sedimentary and volcanic rocks of Tertiary and Quaternary age.
- The flagship Lucky Mica lithium project has historical sampling results with significant lithium concentrations reaching up to 2,450 ppm.
- The company is awaiting assays from initial exploration campaigns to move towards exploratory drilling.
- The lithium market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, driven by the explosive growth of the EV market. EV sales rose by 55 percent between 2021 and 2022.
- A nearby Arizona lithium project operated by Patriot Lithium is indicative of the possible deposits for the Lucky Mica asset.
- An experienced team leads the company toward exploring and developing its highly prospective asset.
Key Project
Lucky Mica Lithium Project
Hertz Lithium’s 100-percent-owned Lucky Mica lithium property covers 9.6 square miles in Maricopa County, Arizona. The easily accessible project is roughly 10 kilometers away from Wickenburg and 105 kilometers northwest of Phoenix. The company is awaiting assays and analysis of completed exploration campaigns and will proceed toward its inaugural drill campaign.
Project Highlights:
- Potential for Prolific Lithium Deposits: Current estimates indicate between 330,000 to 3 million tonnes of ore between 0.3 percent and 2.5 percent lithium oxide. The company is conducting initial exploration as it moves towards a JORC-compliant resource estimate.
- Completed Exploration Work Pending Results: The company has completed initial soil sampling, aeromagnetic geophysics, and confirmation rock sampling of four pegmatite outcrops. Hertz will then proceed with radiometric surveying before conducting its initial drill campaign.
- Close Proximity to Major Metropolis: The Lucky Mica asset is nearby the small town of Wickenburg and 105 kilometers away from Phoenix. As a result, a local workforce is available and an established transportation infrastructure as the project progresses.
- Upcoming 2023 Work Program: Includes detailed field mapping, sampling and investigation (including magnetic susceptibility); detailed spectrometer radiometric survey; drill campaign to delineate the Lucky Mica dike and assess lithium content along strike and at depth; evaluate potential lithium concentrate quality through metallurgical testing of drill core samples.
Management Team & Technical Advisors
Kal Malhi – CEO & Director
Kal Malhi is an experienced entrepreneur and the founder of Bullrun Capital. He has fundraised more than $300 million in capital for startup companies, and specializes in working with academia to advance impactful technology.
Zara Kanji – CFO
Zara Kanji is the founder of Zara Kanji & Associates, CPA, established in 2004. Kanji is experienced in financial reporting compliance for junior listed companies, taxation, general accounting, financial reporting and value-added advisory services for individuals, private and public companies.
Milan Malhi – VP Business Development & Director
Milan Malhi is an experienced corporate development officer and most recently held this position with Beyond Medical Inc. from 2020 to the end of 2021. Malhi has attended post-secondary classes at both Queens University and Corpus Christi College at UBC, and is currently completing the Canadian Securities Course.
Dr. Robert Barker – Director
Dr. Robert Barker has more than 45 years’ experience in successful, multi-commodity mining exploration, with 29 years in exploration and acquisition leadership. Barker was the chief executive officer for Evolving Gold Corp., a gold exploration company with mineral property interests in Nevada and Wyoming, U.S.A.
Pratap Reddy – Director
Pratap Reddy is an experienced professional businessman and a geologist serving in the resource sector for the past 20 years. He is involved in promoting shallow gold resources in Africa, developing responsible mining and processing methods eliminating usage of mercury and cyanide. He is also engaged in the agriculture sectors of India and the United Arab Emirates.
Dr. Mohammed Rezaee – Extraction Designer
Dr. Rezaee is an assistant professor of mining engineering and the holder of the Centennial Career Development Professorship in Mining Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. Rezaee’s research focuses on developing sustainable mining waste disposal practices from which valuables such as critical elements can be recovered for commercial use while the remaining materials are processed to generate environmentally benign materials.
David R Lentz – Geological Advisor
David R. Lentz (PGeo) received his B.Sc. (1983) and M.Sc. (1986) degrees in geology from the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in Fredericton. He completed a PhD (1992) at the University of Ottawa and then worked with the Geological Survey of Canada for three years. In 1994, Lentz joined the New Brunswick Geological Survey as their mineral deposits geologist. Since 2000, he has held the Research Chair in Economic Geology at UNB and his research group, with a research focus on ore-forming systems worldwide, including granophile element deposits, like various pegmatite systems, including Lithium-rich systems.
Caroline Richer – Geological Advisor
Caroline Richer, MSc, PGeo is an exploration geologist and mining technology instructor with a comprehensive field, technical and academic background. She has vast knowledge in data management, GIS and project management. Ms. Richer has led successful geologic mapping campaigns for government and mineral exploration projects in Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland, Yukon, and Nunavut. She holds a M.Sc from New Brunswick University focused on the geochemistry of pegmatites in the Pontiac region, Quebec. She is a program coordinator for the Collège Communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick (CCNB).
Lana Eagle – VP Indigenous Affairs
Lana Eagle is an Indigenous relations strategist and a Social Innovator and will advise Quebec Pegmatite Corp. on how to better engage and work with Indigenous communities. Her background is in banking, economic development, wealth management and mineral exploration. Lana is a pioneer for Aboriginal women in being one of the first to chair a mineral exploration company in Canada. In 2017 she was elected to the Board of the Association for Mineral Exploration (AME) BC, where she was the founder and co-chair of AME’s Gathering Place. She is a Program Advisory Committee Member for Mining and Mineral Exploration at the BC Institute of Technology. She is a Director and Vice Chair of the Board of Geoscience BC and also serves as a Director of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. Lana is a sought-after speaker and lecturer on the topic of Indigenous engagement and Reconciliation in Canada, as well as diversity and inclusion. She is a member of the Whitecap Dakota First Nation in Saskatchewan. We would also like to congratulate Lana on her receipt of the prestigious AME Frank Woodside Gold Pan Award for her distinguished service to AME.