VANCOUVER, April 27, 2016 /CNW/ - Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the "Company" or "Wealth") - (TSXV: WML; OTC: WMLLF; Frankfurt: EJZ), announces that it has executed a Letter of Intent (the "LOI") to acquire an option agreement giving it the right to acquire a 100% royalty-free interest in the Puritama 1 to 8 exploration concessions located in the Salar de Aguas Calientes (the "Property"), located in Region II, northern Chile.
"This acquisition is one of several potential acquisitions that Wealth management has been negotiating in the past weeks. The acquisition of this interest in the Salar de Aguas Calientes gives Wealth a real foothold in Chile, outside of the recently announced proposed transaction with Li3 in the Salar de Maricunga." stated Henk van Alphen, Wealth's President & CEO, "Wealth's aim is to continue seeking quality acquisitions over the coming weeks."
Property Details
The Salar de Atacama is currently the only salar in Chile which produces lithium. Chile's Sernageomin (Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Mineria) has published a list of 15 other high-potential Chilean Salars, and the Aguas Calientes Norte Salar is included in this list.
Exploration concessions at the Salar de Aguas Calientes cover an area of approximately 25km2 (Figure 1) with 20km2 subject to the option agreement to be acquired by Wealth and the remaining 4km2 held by Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile ("SQM"), which is the largest lithium producer in Chile. The exploration concessions are in the process of being constituted and have preferential rights over the area that they cover. Once constituted, they will be valid for 2 years, and may be extended for an additional two years upon relinquishment of 50% of the area. Wealth anticipates that the concessions will be finally issued within the next 60 – 75 days.
Historical surface sampling of brines and springs on the Property was completed in 1993 and results are outlined fully in the table 1 below. Results in 1993 suggested a lithium concentration ranging up to 169 mg/l. This initial sampling is broadly in line with independent analysis published by signum BOX (June 2015), which suggests an expected lithium concentration of 205 mg/l to 290 mg/l. The exploration concessions are located 320km from the port of Antofagasta. Access to the Property is via Route 27, a highway located at the western edge of the claim block.
The Company is treating the Property as a greenfields exploration project. Although the limited earlier work noted here suggests that the Property has potential to host a lithium deposit, the Property has not, to the knowledge of the Company, yet been explored with modern lithium brine exploration methods and there has been insufficient exploration to define a lithium deposit and it is therefore uncertain if further exploration will result in a lithium deposit being delineated on the Property. Accordingly, the initial program to be carried out by the Company will consist of a program of prospecting and sampling to determine the existence, nature, extent and distribution of lithium at the Property.
| Table 1: 1993 Sampling Results, Puritama Project Area |
| Sample |
Medium |
K (mg/l) |
Li (mg/l) |
Mg (mg/l) |
| AC1-1 |
Hot Spring |
185 |
33.0 |
159.0 |
| AC1-4 |
Hot Spring |
54 |
8.7 |
23.1 |
| AC1-6 |
Lagoon |
805 |
145.0 |
705.0 |
| AC1-8 |
Test Pit |
1180 |
169.0 |
501.0 |
| AC1-11 |
Hot Spring |
13 |
2.8 |
25.0 |
Acquisition Terms
Under the LOI, Wealth has the right to acquire all of the right, title and interest of Minera MyMinerals Limitada, a private Chilean company ("MYM") in and to an option agreement dated April 18, 2016 ("Option Agreement") between MYM and Virtud Minerals SpA, a private Chilean company, ("VMS"). Under the Option Agreement, MYM can acquire a 100% royalty-free interest in the Project by making the following payments to VMS:
| Date |
Payment |
||||||
| Upon signing |
USD 150,000 (paid) |
||||||
| April 18, 2017 |
USD 500,000 |
||||||
| April 18, 2018 |
USD 1,000,000 |
||||||
| April 18, 2019 |
USD 1,000,000 |
Subject to satisfactory due diligence by Wealth, which will be completed within 60 days, Wealth and MYM will execute an assignment agreement whereby MYM will assign all of its rights under the Option Agreement in consideration of reimbursement of the USD 150,000 initial payment and issuance to MYM of 100,000 Wealth Shares. There are no work commitments under the Option Agreement. VMS has agreed to provide ongoing mining property consultancy services, in order to secure the completion of the constitution process of the concessions comprised in the Property and keep them valid and in good standing throughout the option period, for a monthly fee of USD 2,000.
The completion of the acquisition of an interest in the Option Agreement by Wealth is subject to the acceptance for filing thereof by the TSX Venture Exchange.
Qualified Person
EurGeol Keith J. Henderson, P.Geo., a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Henderson is a consultant to Wealth, but does hold common shares and incentive stock options in the Company.
About Wealth Minerals Ltd.
Wealth is a mineral resource company with interests in Canada, Mexico, Peru and Chile. The Company's main focus is the acquisition of Lithium projects in South America, including interests in the Maricunga Salar in Chile. The Company also maintains a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration-stage projects, including Yanamina (Peru) and Valsequillo (Mexico).
For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's web site (www.wealthminerals.com) and its Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of
WEALTH MINERALS LTD.
"Hendrik van Alphen"
Hendrik van Alphen
President & CEO
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, timing and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the Company's expectation that it will be able to enter into agreements to acquire interests in additional mineral projects, including lithium projects, the proposed acquisition by the Company of Li3 and the shares of Li3, and thereby an interest in the Maricunga Lithium Project; the proposed execution of formal agreements for the acquisition of an interest in the Option Agreement and thereby the right to earn an interest in the Salar de Aguas Calientes; and the anticipated business plans and timing of future activities of the Company, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSXV acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
Caution Regarding Adjacent or Similar Mineral Properties
This news release contains information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits, and the results of any mining thereof, on adjacent or similar properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties or any potential exploitation thereof.
SOURCE Wealth Minerals Limited
Image with caption: "Figure 1: Land Ownership at Salar de Aquas Calientes Norte and location of historical exploration sampling undertaken in 1993. (CNW Group/Wealth Minerals Limited)". Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20160427_C3540_PHOTO_EN_676109.jpg
Henk Van Alphen or Marla Ritchie, Phone: 604-331-0096 Ext. 3886 or 604-638-3886, E-mail: [email protected]
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