La mayoria de las baterias de los vehículos eléctricos estan hechas de litio. Es el metal más ligero, su densidad es la mitad de la del agua. Al igual que los demás metales alcalinos es univalente y muy reactivo, aunque menos que el sodio, por lo que no se encuentra libre en la naturaleza.
Por su elevado calor específico, el litio se emplea en aplicaciones de transferencia de calor, y por su elevado potencial electroquímico constituye un ánodo adecuado para las baterías eléctricas.
El litio es un elemento moderadamente abundante y está presente en la corteza terrestre en 65 partes por millón(ppm). Esto lo coloca por debajo del níquel, cobre y wolframio y por encima del cerio y estaño, en lo referente a abundancia.
Se encuentra disperso en ciertas rocas, pero nunca libre, dada su gran reactividad. Se encuentra en pequeña proporción en rocas volcánicas y sales naturales, como en el Salar de Atacama en Chile y el Salar de Uyuni en Bolivia el cual contiene el mayor yacimiento a nivel mundial.
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TNR Gold Acquires Lithium-Boron Brine Project in Argentina
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA– TNR Gold Corp. ("TNR" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:TNR) is pleased to announce the signing of an irrevocable offer letter to acquire a 100% interest in the Mariana property, located 120 km west of Tolar Grande, in Salta province, Argentina. The Mariana property, a lithium-boron salar, is accessible year round by paved and dirt roads. Historical sampling has reported significant lithium, boron, and potash levels in brines and sediments within the main body of the salar. Salares, or salt lakes, contain minerals dissolved in brines and some include buried layers of evaporite minerals. Salares host some of the largest known lithium and boron resources in the world. Lithium with economical grade can be produced directly from Salares without need for costly and time consuming process of mine construction.
The Mariana project consists of several contiguous mineral claims over 120 km2 covering the entire salar, which extends over 12 km north-south and 10.5 km east-west.
TNR personnel recently completed a reconnaissance visit to the property in order to confirm historic data. Four of seven water samples collected in the shallow subsurface over approximately 3 km returned values from 188 to 283 mg/L lithium, and 423 to 698 mg/L boron. This confirms that there are some brines present with concentrations similar to those found at producing salares in North and South America. Milligrams per litre (mg/L) are approximately equal to parts per million (ppm) when the density of the brine is similar to fresh water. Please refer to TNR’s press release dated April 16, 2009 for information regarding TNR’s Fish Lake Valley property, located northwest of Chemetall Foote’s Silver Peak lithium production facility in Esmeralda county, Nevada – the only lithium brine producer in North America for over 30 years.
President of TNR Gold, Gary Schellenberg, states, "We are very encouraged by the positive press surrounding lithium and rare metals due to new sources of demand from technologies such as rapid-charging batteries and electric vehicles. The Mariana project acquisition is aligned with International Lithium’s and TNR’s overall philosophy of acquisition of lithium and rare metals projects of merit around the world. Our preliminary evaluation suggests the Mariana project has attractive potash and boron potential which is also characteristic of some major brine producers."
TNR has agreed to make payments totaling US$3,000,000 over a five-year period and commit to work expenditures totaling US$2,500,000 over a four-year period. After completing these payments and incurring these expenditures TNR will have a royalty-free 100% undivided interest in the property.
This agreement is subject to regulatory approval and a finder’s fee is payable with regards to this transaction.
John Harrop, P.Geo, is the company’s qualified person on the project as required under NI 43-101 and has reviewed the technical information contained in this press release.
LITHIUM MARKET OVERVIEW
Currently, Australia, Chile, and Argentina account for more than 80% of the world lithium production. The main sources of lithium and rare earth metals are pegmatites and brines. Conventional hard-rock mining of lithium is economical thanks to other rare earth metals such as tantalum, niobium, and other rare metal content. Some of the largest lithium producers rely on evaporation from brine ponds as this is the most efficient process for concentrating lithium. TNR believes that current production levels will have to be increased in order to meet rising demand for lithium due to recent introduction of stricter standards of fuel efficiency in the USA, increasing prevalence of electric vehicles, and an overall need for more efficient alternative energy solutions.
For more information about lithium – deposits, production, markets, and news please refer to TNR Gold’s "About Lithium" page at: http://www.tnrgoldcorp.com/s/AboutLithium.asp.
ABOUT TNR
TNR is a diversified metals exploration company focused on identifying new prospective projects globally and upon approval of pending licences in Ireland, will have a total portfolio of 31 properties, of which 15 will be subject to the proposed spin-off of International Lithium Corp.
It is anticipated that TNR shareholders of record will receive one share and one full tradable warrant of International Lithium Corp. for every 4 shares of TNR held as of the yet determined record date. For further details of the spin-off please refer to TNR’s April 27, 2009 news release or visit (http://www.internationallithium.com).
The recent acquisition of lithium projects in Argentina, Canada, USA and Ireland confirms the company’s commitment to project generation, market diversity, and building shareholder value.
www.tnrgoldcorp.com/s/Home.asp
