IPO article from The West Australian - Feb 13th '17 Force...

IPO article from The West Australian - Feb 13th '17

Force Commodities Nevada Lithium assets in new float

ASX investors now have access to an interesting new kind of Lithium opportunity with the launch of the $3.5 million float of Marquee Resources.

The company is being spun off from ASX-listed Force Commodities with a swag of Lithium brine properties in the Clayton Valley in Nevada.

Lithium brine is different to the hard-rock Lithium projects seen in Australia and leads to considerably cheaper production given that it does not typically require energy hungry roasting to be processed.
Brine has historically accounted for most of the world’s Lithium production however Australia is well endowed with hard rock Lithium deposits that usually require roasting to be processed

Unlike hard-rock projects, finding Lithium brine mineralization can be as easy as drilling into an aquifer with Lithium-rich waters.

Clayton Valley is one of the few locations globally known to contain commercial-grade, Lithium-enriched brine. The region is also the home of the only Lithium producer in North America, the Silver Peak mine, just seven kilometres south east of Marquee’s 3,000 acre claim.

Silver Peak has been producing since the 1960s and in recent times has been at the epicentre of a claims rush by a new wave of Lithium hopefuls. One of the most advanced players is TSX-listed Pure Energy Minerals, who hold ground immediately west of Marquee’s claims. The company holds 8,000 acres and has already announced a supply agreement with Tesla, who last year began battery production at Gigafactory 1, just 3.5 hours away in Reno.

The Marquee Resources IPO lands Australian investors in the heart of the booming US Lithium scene, and is therefore expected to generate some interest amongst Aussie investors.

Force Commodities shareholders are being a given a priority entitlement in the IPO, which might explain an almost 10% jump in Force’s share price late last week on news that the prospectus had hit the streets.

A total of 17.5m shares will be offered at an issue price of 20 cents a share, raising a total of $3.5m. Force will retain 2.25m shares or 9.4% of the issued capital.

Force Commodities also announced last week some new board and executive appointments at Marquee to help guide the company to success on completion of the IPO. Mark Ashley, a former senior executive with Normandy Mining, Lion Ore Mining International, Kagara Zinc and Apex Minerals has taken up the role of Chairman and two other appointments have also been made.

These include executive director of Equator Resources, Jason Bontempo, who will take on the role of non-executive director at Marquee Resources, while Charles Thomas will be appointed executive director of the new company.

Thomas is currently Chairman of Force, but plans to step down as part of a number of changes in the first quarter of 2017 to the company’s board and management teams.

https://thewest.com.au/business/pub...ada-lithium-assets-in-new-float-ng-b88385593z