Jay Chmelauskas, CEO of Western Lithium, talked to IM about the company’s Kings Valley 37m. tonne hectorite clay deposit in Nevada, and gave forecasts for the enigmatic industry.
IM: What is the history of your Kings Valley lithium project?
Jay Chmelauskas: The Kings Valley lithium deposit was originally discovered by Chevron Resources, who were actually looking for uranium in Nevada, in the late 1970s.
Chevron drilled out a large lithium deposit through the 1980s and completed a significant amount of metallurgical testing, which was continued by the US Bureau of Mines, and a successful technology for the extraction of the lithium from clay was identified.
In 2007, Western Lithium was formed and began exploration and development of the claims and leases associated with the lithium deposit.
Since 2007, we have completed an additional 200 drill holes to delineate our initial mining sequence for our Stage I development.