FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE…Vancouver, British Columbia: Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the “Company” or “Wealth”) – (TSXV: WML; OTCQB: WMLLF; SSE: WMLCL; Frankfurt: EJZN) reports it has entered into an Option Agreement with Gelum Resources Ltd. (the “Company” or “Gelum”, dated August 31, 2023 whereby Wealth may earn up to a 20% interest in Gelum’s contractual interest in the Eldorado Option under an Option Agreement which will be combined with the Robson Claims under the Shannon Option Agreement when earned (collectively, the “GMR Interest”, please see press release of April 6, 2021).
Gelum, as optionee, is party to an option agreement dated March 24, 2021, as amended April 19, 2021, October 18, 2021 and September 27, 2022, (the “Original Agreement”) and the Optionor has granted to Gelum the option to earn up to a 50% interest the “Eldorado Option”, referred to as the “Option” under the Original Agreement in and to the mineral claims in British Columbia called the Eldorado property the “Eldorado Claims”.
Gelum, as optionee, is also party to an option agreement dated May 17, 2022 with Kim J. Shannon (“Shannon”), as optionor (the “Shannon Option Agreement”) with the right to earn a 100% interest (the “Shannon Option”) in a property described as the Robson property (“Robson Claims”) and along with the Eldorado Claims, is referred to in this Agreement as the “Property”.
In order to earn the interest in and to the GMR Interest, Wealth must make a $50,000 cash payment on signing (paid) and incur a minimum $600,000 of exploration expenditures on the Property by December 31, 2023 to earn an 8% interest in the GMR Interest.
Wealth has the option to earn a further 12% interest in the GMR Interest for a total 20% interest, on notice to Gelum, with escalating options which are not mandatory but proscribe further interest thresholds via earn-in expenditure in the GMR Interest. These escalating option thresholds are:
- by December 31, 2023 incur a further $300,000 of Expenditures on the Property (aggregate $900,000) to earn a further 4% interest (aggregate 12% interest);
- by December 31, 2023 incur a further $300,000 of Expenditures on the Property (aggregate $1,200,000) to earn a further 4% interest (aggregate 16% interest); and
- by December 31, 2023 incur a further $300,000 of Expenditures on the Property (aggregate $1,500,000) to earn a further 4% interest (aggregate 20% interest), the portion of which, at the request of Gelum, shall be filed as assessment work with the applicable government registry to maintain the Property in good standing.
Option Agreement Review
Wealth formed a special committee (the “Special Committee”) of two independent directors to review the Option Agreement to ensure terms were similar to these types of transactions in the mineral exploration industry. After review, the Special Committee determined the Wealth and Gelum Option Agreement was indeed drafted on commercial and arm’s length terms, despite some overlap in officers between the two companies.
Background to the Option Agreement
Management and the Special Committee noted that since Q2-2023, Wealth has vigorously communicated with British Columbia provincial authorities regarding drill permitting for the Company’s Kootenay Project. Wealth raised $1.84 million in flow-through financing in October 2022 specifically for drilling on the Kootenay Project (see press release dated October 19, 2022). Given the special tax status of flow-through financings, Wealth must utilize its flow-through cash by the end of this exploration season in 2023. Given time constraints, as mineral exploration in British Columbia becomes highly inefficient after October due to weather, Wealth decided to deploy its flow-through cash in a project which was highly prospective and well known to management. This is the genesis of the Option Agreement described herein.
About Wealth Minerals Ltd.
Wealth is a mineral resource company with interests in Canada and Chile. The Company’s focus is the acquisition and development of lithium projects in South America.
The Company opportunistically advances battery metal projects where it has a peer advantage in project selection and initial evaluation. Lithium market dynamics and a rapidly increasing metal price are the result of profound structural issues with the industry meeting anticipated future demand. Wealth is positioning itself to be a major beneficiary of this future mismatch of supply and demand. In parallel with lithium market dynamics, Wealth believes other battery metals will benefit from similar industry trends.
For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company’s website (www.wealthminerals.com) and its Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of
WEALTH MINERALS LTD.
“Hendrik van Alphen”
Hendrik van Alphen
Chief Executive Officer
For further information, please contact:
Marla Ritchie, Michael Pound or Henk van Alphen
Phone: 604-331-0096 or 604-638-3886
For all Investor Relations inquiries, please contact:
John Liviakis
Liviakis Financial Communications Inc.
Phone: 415-389-4670
For all Public Relations inquiries, please contact:
Nancy Thompson
Vorticom, Inc.
Office: 212-532-2208 | Mobile: 917-371-4053
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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, 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.