Hertz Lithium Inc (CSE:HZ, OTCQB:HZLIF) has made a spash in the junior resource space since its Canadian IPO in April by amassing a diversified portfolio of lithium assets and extraction technology.
Since its public debut, Hertz has ventured into three prominent exploration projects, spanning across Arizona, James Bay, and Brazil.
A more recent addition to Hertz Lithium's portfolio is the acquisition of Canuck Lithium Corp, which is now part of their expanding presence in the James Bay region.
CEO Kal Malhi shared his excitement about the opportunities in the area in an exclusive interview with Proactive.
"James Bay has become a world-renowned lithium district for hard rock, with many discoveries and promising lithium deposits,” Mahli said.
The biggest discovery is from Patriot Battery Metals, which has outlined a 100 million ton resource. Most believe that number could increase two-to-three-fold, however. Either way, it’s likely to be the biggest hard rock lithium deposit in North America.
“We've acquired a significant parcel of land—270 square kilometers—near Patriot Battery Metals' property, located on similar geology. In addition, we secured ground adjacent to our acquisition, further extending our footprint."
A lot of capital has flooded into lithium exploration recently, and a few big-name deposits like Patriot were discovered as a result. What hasn’t happened, however, is finding new ways to extract the lithium from the hard rock deposits.
"The technology has been idled sitting there. Nobody's really improved on what it was, and it's very power-intensive. It requires high heat for extraction,” Mahli noted.
The unique partnership with Penn State University sets Hertz Lithium apart from the pack. Hertz Lithium is striving to refine the technology, focusing on hard rock lithium extraction methods, which have long been energy-intensive. The Penn State partnership has developed a technique that requires significantly less power, offering an eco-friendly and efficient solution.
“What Penn State has done is developed a technology that needs low power, which is environmentally friendly, but still efficient in extracting lithium,” Mahli explained.
The CEO came across a patent that Penn State had held nearly two years ago. Hertz plans to license the worldwide rights to commercialize that patent.
“Now that there’s a lot of deposits being outlined, we believe this technology will be the technology that gets used on extracting that lithium from those deposits,” Mahli said.
Hertz Lithium's more immediate next steps include continued exploration across their projects in James Bay, Arizona, and Brazil.