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Wealth Enters Strategic Alliance with the National Mining Company of Chile - ENAMI
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the “Company” or “Wealth”) - (TSXV:WML) (OTCQB:WMLLF) (SSE:WMLCL) (Frankfu
About this update from Wealth Minerals Ltd.
[{"type":"text","content":" VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 19, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the “Company” or “Wealth”) - (TSXV:WML) (OTCQB:WMLLF) (SSE:WMLCL) (Frankfurt:EJZN) announces that it has entered into an agreement (the “Agreement”) with the fully state-owned National Mining Company of Chile (“ENAMI”), whereby the parties have agreed to form a strategic alliance to develop and commercialize the Company’s projects in the Salar de Atacama and Laguna Verde. The Agreement provides that the parties will have 24 months during which to study and assess the aforementioned properties and to form a partnership (the “JV”) for the exploration, development and mining thereof and for the marketing of the products from the projects. The Agreement contemplates that the JV will take the form of an incorporated joint venture company in which ENAMI will own 10% of the JV and have a 10% free-carried interest, while Wealth will own the remaining 90% of the JV. The Agreement provides that the parties will have 24 months to enter into a definitive agreement that will govern the formation and operation of the JV. Hendrik van Alphen, Wealth’s CEO, stated “We are very happy to have ENAMI as a partner for developing our assets. Not only are we now able to draw upon ENAMI’s experience and knowledge for successfully mining and processing resources in Chile, we have gained a strong state partner that can help fulfill our goals of full scale development to achieve production of lithium and by-products in Chile. This will enable Wealth and ENAMI to meet the world’s growing demand for lithium and secure Chile’s position as a premier player in global lithium markets.” Background Under current Chilean law, and since January 1, 1979, lithium cannot be exploited in Chile by regular mining concessions. The Chilean Mining Code establishes that lithium is a strategic mineral and expressly provides that the exploitation of “non-concessible” mineral substances (which includes lithium) can only be performed by: the Government of the Republic of Chile, a Chilean state-owned company, or by means of administrative concessions or special operation contracts that meet the requirements and conditions set forth by the President of the Republic of Chile for each such case. While a few active licenses in Chile were granted before the current state re...