FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE….Vancouver, British Columbia: Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the “Company” or “Wealth”) – (TSXV: WML; OTCQB: WMLLF; SSE: WMLCL; Frankfurt: EJZ), announces that it has executed a Letter of Intent (the “LOI”) to acquire an option giving it the right to acquire a 100% royalty-free interest in the Salar 1 and 2 exploration concessions (“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. This acquisition is particularly important, as it gives Wealth control over the entire Salar de Aguas Calientes” 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 (salt flat) in Chile which produces lithium. Chile’s Sernageomin (Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Minera) 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 20km2being subject to the option agreement to be acquired by Wealth as announced on April 27, 2016 (NR16-09) and the remaining 4km2 (the Concessions) now being subject to the option in favor of Wealth under the LOI. Exploration concessions over the area now covered by the Concessions were formerly held by Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile (“SQM”), which is the largest lithium producer in Chile, which lost them for failure to pay the required taxes. The 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 (not including the Concessions) was completed in 1993 and results have been previously given in NR16-09 (April 27, 2016). Results in 1993 suggested a lithium concentration ranging up to 169 mg/l. This initial sampling is broadly in line with independent analysis published bysignum BOX (June 2015), which suggests an expected lithium concentration of 205 mg/l to 290 mg/l. The Property is located 320km from the port of Antofagasta, and access is via Route 27, a highway located at the western edge of the Property.
Figure 1: Land Ownership at Salar de Aquas Calientes Norte. Green is the newly-optioned Concessions;
Blue is the previously optioned Puritama concessions (NR16-09).
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.
Acquisition Terms
Under the LOI, subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence and completion and execution of a formal option agreement (to occur on or before August 4, 2016), Wealth will be granted an exclusive option (“Option”) by the vendor (a private arm’s length Chilean company) (“Vendor”) to acquire a 100% royalty-free interest in the Concessions in consideration of the issuance of 1,000,000 Wealth shares, as follow:
| Date | Shares to be Issued |
| Upon signing | 150,000 |
| 6 months after signing | 250,000 |
| 12 months after signing | 250,000 |
| 15 months after signing | 350,000 |
There will not be any work commitments under the Option, but Wealth will be responsible keeping the Concessions in good standing during the period of the Option and taking the necessary steps (with the assistance of the Vendor) in order to secure the completion of the constitution process of the Concessions.
The execution of the formal agreement with respect to the Option is subject to the acceptance for filing thereof by the TSX Venture Exchange.
Qualified Person
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
For further information, please contact:
Henk Van Alphen or Marla Ritchie
Phone: 604-331-0096 Ext. 3886 or 604-638-3886
E-mail: info@wealthminerals.com
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 option to acquire 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.