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This article really explains the birth of DMI/GLN as it is now...

JP takes shine to lithium with backdoor listing


Stuart McKinnonThe West Australian
Saturday, 17 February 2018 2:15PM


Three months after quitting his job as an analyst with Perth-based broker Patersons, Chilean-born Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega has struck a deal to backdoor list his interest in two lithium brine projects in Argentina into explorer Dempsey Minerals.

The agreement highlights the prevailing rush on the red-hot lithium sector, but also says something about the Spanish-speaking finance worker’s understanding of the market for the battery mineral and local knowledge.

JP, as he is known, has previously negotiated agreements with one of the world’s biggest lithium producers, SQM, holds a masters in mineral economics from Curtin University and has worked for BHP, Rio Tinto and Codelco.

His private company, Blue Sky Lithium, holds the rights to two projects on the Hombre Muerto salt flat in the so-called Lithium Triangle, which straddles Argentina, Chile and Bolivia high up in the Andes. Between the two projects lies Galaxy Resources’ Sal De Vida project and tenure held by another lithium giant, FMC.

Blue Sky’s projects cover 500ha directly over the salar (salt lake) and an additional 4000ha over potential underground brine reservoirs.
JP says he wants to move quickly, spending most of his time in Argentina engaging with “whoever he needs to” to shore up the brine projects and bring them into production.
“It’s about knowing who to talk to and where to dig,” he said.

“Meeting face-to-face is important in Latin America — it would take much longer trying to get things done by phone and email.”
JP will model his approach on ASX-listed Argentinian-focused lithium trailblazer Argosy Minerals, which is well advanced with its brine project at Rincon to the north.

He plans to establish a maiden resource within 18 months and is studying the best location for a lithium carbonate processing plant.
Subject to due diligence and shareholder approval, JP will take scrip in Dempsey and become its new managing director.