Issue 53, March 16th – March 31st CONTENT

Batteries and Vehicles Introduction

SAFT to provide Li-ion batteries to the US Army Many announcements were made during the last two weeks of 1March. In the lithium battery world it is interesting to highlight the BMW Group and Toyota signed collaboration agreement collaboration agreement between BMW and Toyota that aims to China BAK Battery to supply a Korean develop lithium ion cells with higher capacity and performance. electric motor Company On the other hand, in the automotive side Daimler and BYD Denza: the electric vehicle brand between Daimler and BYD launched the new brand DENZA, for electric vehicles that are going to be manufactured under the Joint Venture Agreement that both companies have. In the lithium Industry, the most commented new was the merge between Galaxy Resources and Lithium One; both companies already have an agreement for the development of Lithium One’s James Bay Project in Canada. It is also worth to highlight that Nemaska Lithium produced lithium carbonate high Lithium Industry purity and lithium hydroxide battery grade with a new process that

Nemaska Lithium produced high purity would require less consumption of several materials. lithium hydroxide and battery-grade lithium carbonate Channel Resources presented resource estimation at Fox Creek Lithium Exploration Group presented resource estimate for its Valleyview lithium project Rock Tech Lithium to purchase two Argentine lithium Brine Projects Rodinia Lithium provided progress update for the Salar de Diablillos POSCO, KORES and the Bolivian Government to establish a Joint Venture Agreement Lithium One and Galaxy Resources to merge

LITHIUM, BATTERIES AND VEHICLES Batteries and Vehicles2

BRIEF NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Chevrolet’s Volt demonstration fleet in Beijing SAFT to provide Li-ion batteries to the US Army Date: March 23rd Date: March 20th Source: General Motors Source: SAFT Batteries

General Motors signed a The French battery manufacturer SAFT announced that it would Memorandum of Understanding design and build ultra high-power batteries to support the US Army’s with the China Automotive Ground Combat Vehicle program. According to the Company, Technology and Research Center the Li-ion battery would support the vehicle’s hybrid electric drive (CATARC) in order to deploy a system when it is not using traditional fuels and the system would demonstration fleet for Chevrolet’s provide thermal management and act as a high power traction Volt in Beijing. The Company has motor battery. already installed several charging stations at strategic points to support the electric vehicle- charging infrastructure. BMW Group and Toyota signed collaboration agreement Date: March 27th Source: BMW

BMW Group and Toyota signed a collaboration agreement for the development of lithium ion battery cells with higher capacity and performance through the use of new cathode, anode and electrolyte materials.

LITHIUM, BATTERIES AND VEHICLES China BAK Battery to supply a Korean electric motor BRIEF NEWS Company Date: March 29th Source: China Bak

China BAK Battery announced that it would supply high-power lithium-ion batteries to a Korean electric motor manufacturer. Canada’s first public Although the name of the Korean company was not unveiled, the charging network Company informed that would deliver 300 lithium-ion battery units Date: March 30th by April to power their electric motors. Source: Hydro-Quebec

Hydro-Quebec and other public and private institutions launched the first public charging network Denza: the electric vehicle brand between Daimler and for electric vehicles, allowing the BYD electric vehicle drivers to charge Date: March 30th in Montreal and Quebec areas Source: Daimler in more than thirty 240V plug-in stations. Following the joint venture agreement signed in May 2010, Daimler and BYD have developed a new electric vehicle brand named Denza that will make its appearance at the Auto China in Beijing. According to the information, the Companies plan to commence production in 2013.

LITHIUM, BATTERIES AND VEHICLES Lithium Industry3

BRIEF NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

Ganfeng Lithium to increase Nemaska Lithium produced high purity lithium equity stake in International hydroxide and battery-grade lithium carbonate Lithium Corp. Date: March 19th Source: Nemaska Lithium Date: March 20th Source: International Lithium Corp. Nemaska Lithium informed that it has produced high purity lithium International Lithium announced hydroxide directly from a lithium sulphates solution. According to that following an already signed the Company, this process doesn’t require reagents, which means Strategic Relationship Agreement, less consumption of caustic soda than the traditional process. the Chinese lithium chemicals Additionally, with this process evaporation is eliminated, which manufacturer Ganfeng Lithium decreases the capital cost of associated equipment. The Company Co. would increase through a sent lithium hydroxide sample to potential clients. Lithium carbonate private placement its equity stake battery grade was produced directly from the high purity lithium to 14.7%. hydroxide produced in the first phase pilot plant.

Channel Resources presented resource estimation at Fox Creek Date: March 19th Source: Channel Resources

Channel Resources announced a maiden resource estimate for its Fox Creek mineral brine project in Alberta, Canada. The first table provides the total in-place inferred Resource Estimate based on 4.1 billion cubic meters of brine. The second table shows values in a range from 23.8 million m3 (0.6% of the resource in place) to 671 million m3 (16.5%) over a 20 year period.

LITHIUM, BATTERIES AND VEHICLES Lithium (Li) BRIEF NEWS Concentration (mg/L) 88 Total in-place Resource (T) 362,000 Equivalent end-product Lithium Carbonate Khalkos started fieldwork on Total in-place equivalent end-product (T) 1,930,000 its Pontax-Lithium property Source: Channel Resources. Date: March 20th Source: Khalkos Lithium 1.2% Lithium 0.6% Lithium 16.4% The Canadian Mining Exploration Recoverable Resource (T) 4,210 2,100 59,300 Company Khalkos announced that trenches are currently being Recoverable Lithium Lithium Lithium completed on the Pontax-Lithium End-product Carbonate Carbonate Carbonate property located in James Bay, Recoverable Quebec that are going to be used end-product Equivalent (T) 22,400 11,200 316,000 in order to test the extensions of Source: Channel Resources. pegmatite spodumene bearing dykes. According to the Company, a previously diamond drill program showed lithium content Lithium Exploration Group presented resource estimate up to 1.43% Li2O over 13.0 meters for its Valleyview lithium project and 3.0% Li2O over 4.0 meters. Date: March 22nd Source: Lithium Exploration Group

Lithium Exploration Group announced a maiden resource estimate for its Valleyview project located in Alberta, Canada. The first table shows the inferred resource which estimate is based on a total in- place formation water of 5.7 billion cubic meters while the second table shows hypothetical mineral that could be expected to be recovered over 20 years. The Company’s next stage is to prepare a Preliminary Economic Assessment.

Lithium (Li2CO3) Average elemental grade (mg/L) 67.5 Total in-place Resource and equivalent end product (T) 384,750 (2,048,000) Source: Channel Resources.

Recoverable resource and recoverable end product (tones) Inferred recoverable Trans-missivity volume of brine (m2/day) Lithium (Li2CO3) 71.8 million m3 of brine or 1.3% 0.09 4,850 (25,800) 176 million m3 of brine or 3.1% 1.0 11,880 (63,200) 258.5 million m3 of brine or 4.6% 2.2 17,400 (93,000) Source: Channel Resources.

LITHIUM, BATTERIES AND VEHICLES Rock Tech Lithium to purchase two Argentine lithium Brine Projects Date: March 26th Source: Rock Tech Lithium

Rock Tech Lithium announced that it has entered into an Option Agreement with Lithea inc. to purchase a 100% interest in properties located in the Salar de Incahuasi and the Salar de Pular in Argentina. The tenements (leases) of the Salar de Incahuasi, Mina Sisifo, are comprised of 2,000 hectares and the Salar de Pular, Mina Patilla, are comprised of 1,346 hectares. The Option Properties are accessible from the city of Salta, Argentina via all-season roads. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company has been granted, for a period of 60 days, the exclusive rights to conduct due diligence and fairness opinion that would value the properties at a minimum of US$ 3.5.

Rodinia Lithium provided progress update for the Salar de Diablillos Date: March 28th Source: Rodinia Lithium

Rodinia Lithium provided an update progress for its operations at the Salar de Diablillos in Argentina. Main highlights are: • Argentinian government confirmed natural gas availability • An additional drill was mobilized to the Salar in order to obtain additional pump tests further away from proposed well field. • Evaporation rates experienced during the summer months exceeded the Company’s expectations. These accelerated evaporation rates could mean a lower evaporation cycle timeline than that predicted in the Preliminary Economic Assessment. The Company expects to continue to advance the project towards Feasibility Study by adding certainty to the resource estimate, brine extraction processes and metallurgical processing and recovery.

POSCO, KORES and the Bolivian Government to establish a Joint Venture Agreement Date: March 30th Source: Posco

POSCO announced that in collaboration with the Korean Agency KORES signed a Heads of Agreement in order to establish a joint venture with the state-run Comibol to carry out a lithium battery business in Bolivia. Under the terms of the agreement, COMIBOL would provide materials and raw materials for lithium batteries including lithium, nickel, and manganese, while POSCO and KORES agreed to support related manufacturing technology. The joint venture targets to start producing during the first half of 2014 and the program will be carried out in two stages.

LITHIUM, BATTERIES AND VEHICLES Lithium One and Galaxy Resources to merge Date: March 30th Source: Lithium One

Lithium One announced that it has entered into an agreement with Galaxy Resources pursuant to which a wholly owned subsidiary of Galaxy will acquire by way of a court-approved plan of arrangement all of the outstanding securities of Lithium One. Under the terms of the agreement, holders of common shares of Lithium One will be entitled to receive the greater of (a) 1.80 ordinary shares of Galaxy Resources or (b) the number of Galaxy Shares determined by dividing C$ 1.55 by the Canadian dollar equivalent. Galaxy Resources produces spodumene at Mt. Cattlin in Western Australia and it just opened a lithium chemical plant in Jiangsu, China. Lithium One is developing a lithium brine project at the Salar del Hombre Muerto in Argentina and a spodumene project at James Bay in Canada.

LITHIUM, BATTERIES AND VEHICLES Fidel Oteiza 1921 Of. 1001 Providencia - Santiago - Chile Office: 562-9460407 Fax: 562-2441742 [email protected] www.signumbox.com