US Government Makes 'BIG BET' on Lithium and Deems This Commodity CRITICAL
Summary
Lithium Market Outlook: The podcast discusses the potential recovery of the lithium market, highlighting a shift from a surplus to a deficit in 2024, which could lead to a significant increase in lithium prices.
US Government Investment: The US government has taken a 5% equity stake in Lithium Americas, indicating a strong commitment to securing domestic critical minerals and reducing reliance on foreign sources.
Potash as a Critical Mineral: Potash has been added to the US critical minerals list, driven by the country's high import dependency and its importance to agricultural efficiency and food security.
American Critical Minerals' Strategy: The company is strategically positioned in the Paradox Basin, Utah, with significant potential for both lithium and potash production, leveraging existing infrastructure and regulatory support.
Infrastructure and Permitting: American Critical Minerals benefits from proximity to existing mining operations and infrastructure, with permits in place for drilling, positioning it well for future development.
Financial Position: The company has no debt and a low monthly burn rate, focusing on raising additional capital to fund drilling operations, with a recent private placement boosting its cash reserves.
Future Prospects: With both lithium and potash projects, the company aims to quickly advance towards resource definition and pre-feasibility studies, capitalizing on the growing demand for critical minerals.
Transcript
Hello everybody and welcome into commodity culture where our goal is to make you a better investor in the commodities sector. My name is Jesse Day. Before we dive in, standard disclaimer, nothing here is investment advice. Do your own due diligence. And today's guest is the CEO of American Critical Minerals. A company actively exploring its Green River Pod Ash and Lithium project in the Paradox Basin in Utah. It's Simon Clark. Great to have you back on the show. Great to be on again, Jesse. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Last time I had you on the show was in June of this year, and the first question we discussed was whether lithium was poised for a comeback. You said it was, and now it appears we could be seeing that comeback. I want to read a post from Katusa Research on X. They said, "Every lithium stock just woke up from a three-year coma. In 2024, the lithium market was swimming in a 154,000 ton surplus. Next year, you're looking at the first deficit in four years. I know you're obviously watching the lithium market very closely. Do you think we're on the verge of another epic run in the lithium price? Well, I Jesse, I think we're certainly on the on the edge of a recovery as I said in June and I I think we're starting to see that. Um I mean last week you saw the US government take an equity stake in in lithium America's th pass which is w- w which is huge. I mean, yes, you've seen debt handed out to critical minerals projects to help construction, but to take equity risk in in in some of these companies is is quite a stance and it just shows their view of the world and the fact that they've very much woken up that these projects have got to be funded and pushed forward to break, you know, the reliance on on overseas countries for a lot of the critical minerals in the US. Um, and I think with lithium, you know, you can talk about about whether the ramp up is slower than forecast or or whatever. And and I think in some places it perhaps has, but the numbers they were looking at were highly aggressive. So it continues to grow um you know in in a very fast pace globally and um so yes I do think I mean at the end of the day you know when prices got as low as they were I think $6,000 a ton for lithium carbonate when it had been over 80,000 um you know you can't bring on new projects you can't build new projects and it's very hard apart from the most lean projects in the world to make any money at those prices. So, you know, now it's back to, I think, somewhere between 10 and $11,000 a ton. For me, I've always felt that 20 to 25 is the right number because at that number, people can take those investment decisions to build projects, to keep running projects, and and everyone can make some good returns. So, you know, it' be nice for everyone in the world if it just went up and stopped at $25,000 a ton. Um, but as we see with commodities, it'll probably go beyond that and then come back. Um, I think lithium is maturing, so hopefully we won't see the really wild swings that we have seen. Um, I don't think it'll go back up to 80,000, but I think uh I think we're going to see it as it matures really start to sort of hopefully get to that kind of range again where everyone makes good money. So, absolutely. I think I think the future is looking a lot better again on the lithium side. And you mentioned it. I'd love to dive a little bit deeper into this bombshell piece of news in the lithium sector that the US government has now taken a 5% stake in lithium Americas. I can see no better evidence of lithium being considered a critical mineral to the US administration than this move. How do you think this could impact the lithium market moving forward? And do you think we'll see more of this ahead? Perhaps an increased stake in Lithium Americas or the US government taking a stake in other lithium producing companies? Yeah, I mean I mean lithium Americas is one they've taken a big bet on. Um and it is the biggest project in in the US um and actually one of the biggest if not the biggest in the world um you know for the pass. So absolutely I think it made sense for them to start there. I think they will definitely go into other projects because you know yes it's a big project but uh you know if you believe the supply demand forecasts they're going to need a lot more than what that can produce. So you know if if we if we step back I mean the US production of lithium is tiny. It's way less than 1% um you know of of what's mined globally. So we're going to have to do several passes. So, so yes, I do think it is the way forward. I think it's also a statement of intent of what the US government will do across the critical minerals board. Um, it's not just lithium. There are other projects as well. So, you know, I think it's a really good sign of of intent. I think the fact that they also opened up the critical minerals list this year as they do every several years and they've added potsh and uran well uranium is not formally on it yet, but it will be. But for us, potach has been added which is another obviously key for us. So those projects on that list are way more likely to get funding from the government whether it's debt or equity and also subject to expedited permitting. Um and you know obviously that's really important as well. Well podash another commodity that looks potentially poised for a comeback. um you prices rising steadily so far this year, still a long ways to go to get back to previous all-time highs of April 2022. So, I guess a similar question to lithium. Do you think we could get back to those prices? And and what are the main catalysts that you currently see driving the podash market? Yeah, listen, I I I I I think we can see I think we'll continue to see it moving up nicely. I don't know if it'll get to the the the crazy prices that were seen, you know, at the time of the start of the Ukraine war. Um, you know, obviously that took potach or on the face of it took pot some of the potach off the global market. So, you know, it spiked on the back of that. Now, who knows? Geopolitical events today are even more crazy perhaps than they were three or four years ago. But I I I think one of the biggest drivers domestically and why the administration put potachsh on the critical mineral list is they do import about 95% of potach which is a massive number. Now a number of some of that a big chunk of that has been from Canada which is a major producer and you know historically a strong ally with um with the US but obviously we've seen the US doesn't want to be tied to anyone here. Um, and you know, you got China and Russia and and a lot of other parties as well that you know, relations are even more strained with. So, you know, I think I I think that's a huge driver. So, I do think you'll continue to see them move up steadily. Um I think there's also a recognition that with you know agriculture typically growing in around 5% compound annual growth rate um you're going to and pot ash the key fertilizer globally to help agricultural efficiency and ward off disease especially as soils get depleted you know as there's more and more farming. Um, so it comes down to food security, it becomes to down to supply chain security and all of these are key and and that's why it's gone on the critical minerals list and you know I do think it's a positive time for for potach and you know as well as the department of energy on the lithium side funding projects with debt. Um there's also a lot of money available on in the department of agriculture you know for agricultural type products including pot ash and we actually did see a very interesting grant to a peer in the paradox basin called sage pot ash um they uh they got some a grant from the department of agriculture to help them build a processing plant. Now I think we're even better positioned in our location in the paradox. Um and I do think as we develop the project here you know the opportunity to secure funding is on both the partach and lithium side. Um you know obviously we've got two critical minerals rather than just one is bigger and bigger. So it's definitely a very exciting time to be in domestic critical minerals. Well, I want to dive into into the company in just a moment and hone in on your project there, but first I would like to maybe pull on that thread regarding pod ash being added to the critical minerals list in the United States. Do you think we could eventually see a similar situation with uh lithium in terms of the government actually taking a stake in certain pot ash producers and what sort of tailwind does that government support provide to the sector? Yeah, I mean I I I do think it's logical. We've seen it in lithium. Um start starting off by providing debt to build projects, but I think you know the the fact that this government is prepared to take more of a risk and take equity risk, you know, is a good sign. Um the Department of Agricultural is actually a grant rather than a loan. So that's actually some of the best funding you can get. Um and it's because they want to see potach produced very quickly. You know you you on potach you're really coming from a standing start apart from intrepid potach which produces 300,000 tons a year and you have a country that's consuming close to 10 million. Um you know it's it's uh it you've got to move things quickly and get things going. And you know there are some good potachsh deposits in the US but they've got to be driven forward aggressively. So permitting funding but also not just funding to build things funding to help earlier stage companies develop and get to the next stage. And so, you know, equity obviously is the riskiest investment of all for for governments to take and I think a really strong signal of intent and absolutely I think it we'll see it in Portach and other critical minerals as well. Well, let's discuss how American Critical Minerals fits into the picture. As I mentioned at the top of the show, we did discuss the company in June of this year, but there's a lot of new viewers since then. So, could you start by providing an overview of the company? Yeah. So we have a large land package in uh you know what is thought by many to be the biggest um evaporate basin from the potential of potachsh production potential if you like um in the US. Some people term it as super basin, the only one in the US. And the super basin globally there's seven or eight of them. Obviously, you have a big one in Saskatchewan, but it's a basin um with the potential to produce a billion tons of potach. And so, the paradox, you know, meets that criteria in the eyes of many. So, it's a it's a great place to be. We're we're 20 minutes as the crow flies from the only um producing um potach producer in the US, Intrepid. Potash's Moab Mine. Now, they do have a couple of they have another facility in Utah and one in Arizona, but Moab was the original. It's been producing for 50 years. It's the first place they introduce solution mining globally, which is where you actually pump warm brine solution into the um pot ash cycles, create cabins um if you like, melt the pot ash, and then pump it to the surface in a in in an aqueous solution, which you then concentrate by solar evaporation and and concentrate the potach. So, it's got a rich history of potachsh um production very close to us. We're targeting exactly the same potach cycles, potach zones as uh as Intrepid. Um and so that's how the company was formed. It was focused on major potachsh fairway in the paradox. Um and in recent years, what's been really intriguing is the work that's been done on the lithium brine side. um you know because in in in the formation the pot ash is at about four or 5,000 ft and then two to 3,000 ft below that you've got lithium brines and you know in particular our neighbor that holds land contiguous with us so right next to us to the north and neighboring us in the south called Anson Resources has spent a lot of money and time defining resources they've now done a hugely successful pilot with KO you know, using DLE technology produce battery or shown the ability to produce battery grade lithium carbonate. And on the back of that, you've seen POSCO sign anou with with Anson. And just last week, LG, the big battery company globally, signing a definitive offtake. So I, you know, you got to commend Anson. They've done a lot of terrific work. So, we've not spent a penny, but given we're the meat and the sandwich, we now also have lithium, huge lithium potential in our brines. Um, and we know from all the historic oil and gas data across our project and surrounding it, you know, 23 wells that there's data for. And, you know, we know we we have the same potach, we know we have the same lithium. um you know and on the back of that you've seen this week we've come out with um you know we we had a large expiration target under 43101 we've now added a large lithium target and those are very meaningful um pieces of work under 43101 when you're dealing with blanket style mineralization like you are here in lithium and potachsh. So you know we've got two very large targets and actually we did end up with a third. There's um bromine which is a very interesting industrial gas is is a very large byproduct of the lithium production process that Anson's looked at and again we have large quantities of bromine. So you know we now have three large expiration targets two of which are critical minerals and I think we're really well poised to drive ahead. You know we have neighbors who are focused on potachsh or lithium and we're looking at both. you know, we've actually locked up the rights to to to both. Um, you know, we added pla claims to our apot licenses and um, you know, we have drill permits where in each hole we drill, we can test for both, which is great. So, we're really excited. We're well positioned and, you know, we're we're ready to go. Well, you've touched on some of the milestones that the company has achieved there in the Paradox Basin. Maybe you could dive a little bit deeper into that. um particularly since the last time we spoke or maybe since the beginning of the year, what what are some of the main items of progress that the company has made that that come top of mind for you? Yeah, I think I I think for me, you know, we've been really looking to get ourselves positioned to to to um to be able to drill. And so, you know, first off, we've renewed all our licenses, which is not a small um challenge for a young company because it's um you know, the licenses are expensive and as I say, we both have potach and lithium. So, so they're all they've all been renewed for another year. Um we've learned a lot from what Anson has done on the lithium side. I think they've since we spoke, you know, the the deal they have with POSCO, the results of their pilot um and now definitive offtake has been very positive for us. I think directly in the company now we've we're updating our 43101 technical report which will be available shortly, but we have just on Monday published uh two very large expiration targets, one for lithium, one for bromine to add to our pot ash. So, you know, we've we've learned a lot. We've refined all the information we have. We know where we need to drill um from the historic data as well. So, there is good drill control. Um and I think so that's really been our major our major focus for the last several months. And that now sets us up really well to to be able to drill, you know, later this year or early next. We don't have any constraints and timelines for drilling. Um, you know, we're in the heart of uh heart of Utah and uh obviously that's you know two years ago was ranked number one for in mining investment in the world as a jurisdiction. So really well positioned on that front. And then I I think just recently we announced the addition of Ken Taylor to our advisory board. And Ken was a senior VP within trepid. Obviously we're 20 miles away 20 minutes away as the crow flies from their project. Um and um you know there's there's obviously lots of synergies with what we're doing. they they sort of continuing to have to drill uh after 50 years of production and we're close by we're flatlying um we're we're targeting the same cycle so I think at some point developing that relationship and beyond that Ken's knowledge of the landscape of what's happening in the evaporate basins in Utah in general um but his knowledge of pot ash salts horizons and and lithium is first rate. So to have a guy on the ground like that as part of our team is very key strategically. So yeah, we've done a lot of work, a lot of things happening. That's fantastic. I have to pull in the thread regarding broine. I haven't even heard of that commodity. Could you maybe just give us a little bit of an intro to what the main industrial uses are and kind of the investment thesis behind that particular commodity? Yeah, I mean it's it's um it's a specialized industrial gas, you know, they use in in certain industrial processes. Um it's it's um dominated by two or three players. I think Tetra is one of it in the US. It trades at about I think three US 360 a kilo. So which would be equivalent to about $3,600 a ton. Um and we have um you know in in terms of our expiration target we're looking at somewhere in the 3.3 million to 9 million tons um of bromine of contained bromine. Obviously you know the numbers are something like 9 sorry 2 billion tons of it from a volume perspective at a grade of about you know close to 3,000 to 4,000 ppm. So good grades and that it distills down into about 3.3 to 9 million tons. So you know when you do an expiration target there's always a pretty big range but even at the lower end of that scale 3 you know 30 3.3 million tons at 3600 um a ton um is a very nice byproduct to have. Well, talk to us some more about the infrastructure you have in place at your project and any other pertinent details that we maybe we haven't covered yet. Um, your relationship with the local government and community. Um, you mentioned you've been renewed all your permits. Obviously, that's going smoothly. Uh, but just very interested in the overall regulatory environment as well in in that jurisdiction. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, we're we're we're close to the town of Moab in Utah. Um we're just off a major highway because we have Intrepid just up the road. Um they put in a rail spur to that facility. So we've got rail very close. Um you know, as I say, it's a mining state. The Paradox Basin has seen a lot of oil and gas um work over the years, uranium historically, and now we're seeing um obviously more on the on the lithium side as well as the potach. So, you know, in terms of uh knowledge of mining uh and how to mine the paradox, there's a lot of knowledge locally. Um and you've got all of the um all all of the either rail or road routes to the industrial heartland of the US and the agricultural heartland. So, extremely well placed to develop these two critical minerals. And in terms of the state, as I mentioned earlier on, it was the Fraser Institute number one pick globally as a mining jurisdiction from the investment perspective in 2023. It's definitely in the top five last year. I haven't seen those numbers officially yet. Um, but a good place to work. We we're lucky we have a guy on the ground in Moab who is XB BLM who represents us. So, you know, we have an extremely good relationship with the regulators. I think I told you before that getting potachsh permits is a long arduous um process or has historically been. I think we're going to see that um ramp up under this new administration. But um you know the whole process with the BLM involved a lot of uh environmental impact work um and community outreach by the BLM and they did a great job on that. And so you know as I say we're we're we're permitted we have a plan of operations approved. We're permitted for four holes on on on BLM land and three on state land. So we have a total of seven um that we can drill. Um and um you know we've worked out what the bonding is on the BLM side. We've already paid the bonding on the state and um you know so we're pretty much ready to go on that front. Um and if you think of uh uh these blanket um uh styles of mineralization, you know, you don't need to drill hundreds of holes. Um you know, there's, as I say, there's a number of his historic holes around us. And so we believe if we drill in the one to three holes um we'll be able to come up with a a good resource you know converting the expiration targets on both the lithium and the potach side. So you know I think I think we're really well placed on that front and we're in a great jurisdiction to drive this forward. You raised a million dollars in a private placement last month. How do you plan to put that cash to work? What is your overall cash position right now and your debt obligations if any? Yeah, we don't have any debt. We're fully paid up for the year. Um, we have about 700,000 Canadian I think cash on hand. Um, we did we did pay for some uh for some marketing which we announced um you know some high level marketing um to to just build the awareness side of it. So we we announced that a few weeks ago as well. So we continue the push to get the name out there and and continue to um you know build awareness as I say you know the next phase for us um will be to add further capital to the balance sheet to drill and so obviously it's good for us that our stock price has you know has has pretty much tripled over the last 6 months or so here. Um and um you know we feel that with the awareness out there and and um you know knowledge base and what's happening in critical minerals we'll be really well placed to to to raise capital and then get the drill bit going. You know that's really the focus of the company now. Um and I we've got all the pieces in place on the technical side. Um so really it's been a little bit about making sure the market is aware and ready and so we've spent some money on that. our our monthly burn rate beyond that is typically it's very low. It's 50 to 60,000 a month. So, you know, we've got lots of running room still, but obviously, you know, we want to add the capital here to to drill. And, you know, it these these holes are expensive. They're deep. Um, you know, uh they go down as as deep as 8,000 ft. So, you know, it be in the range of 1.5 million US a hole. And um you know I ideally we want to drill three of them. So you know I think we've done a lot of really good work positioning the company to take that step and um you know built the team and I think we're ready to go here. I think we're ready to rock and roll. As I say we got permits in hand and uh you know we now know a lot more about the lithium and broine as well as the potach. So well positioned. Well Simon let's end by opening the floor to you. Is there anything we haven't yet discussed? Anything you want to emphasize that you think it's important for potential shareholders of American Critical Minerals to be aware of? Yeah, listen, I think I I think you know, potach has historically been a a niche pro uh product. It's it's definitely becoming more mainstream and a lot of it is driven by the by the growth in the agricultural sector and the need for food security as well as energy security. So, you know, we're seeing that in spades with this administration. So, I think I I think I think that's a real key here. You're starting to see a lot of interest come back into investing in potach. You know, there aren't a lot of junior peers. Um we've seen um Millennial Potes, which is a company that's often cited with a project in Gibbon, um get money from the US government because the US government is trying to to add new um sources of of potach even if it's overseas um to to drive it forward. And millennial stock prices, I think it's 10 to 15 times over the last 12 months. It's gone from about 30 cents to about 3 bucks 40. Um, and you know, and that's in Africa in Gabon. Now, they are close to a tide water, but you know, I would point out we're right in the heart of the US. So, you know, there's some really good signs what's happening in the sector in terms of the juniors. And then, as you mentioned off the top, we've seen a lot of the um lithium players actually start to get a bit again and move up. So, I think with both having two products rather than one and being able to drill both in each hole, uh, and and move this to resource and pfs in a very quick timeline. Uh, again, this isn't hard rock. This is this is evaporate basin, you know, where you're testing brines and uh and potach cycles that are are blanket styles of mineralization. So, I think we can do a lot very quickly here. uh and I think we can close the valuation gap very quickly on uh our peers like Millennial you know I mentioned Sage Potach which is further south little bit more advanced than us they have a they have a resource out of there um I think I'm I would prefer I I prefer our location and our proximity to the existing production in the basin um and uh I think we've got a lot of room here as I say to close that valuation gap well Simon this has been a fantastic conversation. I'm going to put links in the description below to the American Critical Minerals website as well as social media for people to follow along with the company. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your knowledge with the audience. Thanks, Jesse. Appreciate it. Commodity Culture is a series on commodities and natural resources. If you would like to see more, be sure to subscribe and hit the bell notification so you're always up to date with the latest episodes.
US Government Makes 'BIG BET' on Lithium and Deems This Commodity CRITICAL
Summary
Transcript
Hello everybody and welcome into commodity culture where our goal is to make you a better investor in the commodities sector. My name is Jesse Day. Before we dive in, standard disclaimer, nothing here is investment advice. Do your own due diligence. And today's guest is the CEO of American Critical Minerals. A company actively exploring its Green River Pod Ash and Lithium project in the Paradox Basin in Utah. It's Simon Clark. Great to have you back on the show. Great to be on again, Jesse. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Last time I had you on the show was in June of this year, and the first question we discussed was whether lithium was poised for a comeback. You said it was, and now it appears we could be seeing that comeback. I want to read a post from Katusa Research on X. They said, "Every lithium stock just woke up from a three-year coma. In 2024, the lithium market was swimming in a 154,000 ton surplus. Next year, you're looking at the first deficit in four years. I know you're obviously watching the lithium market very closely. Do you think we're on the verge of another epic run in the lithium price? Well, I Jesse, I think we're certainly on the on the edge of a recovery as I said in June and I I think we're starting to see that. Um I mean last week you saw the US government take an equity stake in in lithium America's th pass which is w- w which is huge. I mean, yes, you've seen debt handed out to critical minerals projects to help construction, but to take equity risk in in in some of these companies is is quite a stance and it just shows their view of the world and the fact that they've very much woken up that these projects have got to be funded and pushed forward to break, you know, the reliance on on overseas countries for a lot of the critical minerals in the US. Um, and I think with lithium, you know, you can talk about about whether the ramp up is slower than forecast or or whatever. And and I think in some places it perhaps has, but the numbers they were looking at were highly aggressive. So it continues to grow um you know in in a very fast pace globally and um so yes I do think I mean at the end of the day you know when prices got as low as they were I think $6,000 a ton for lithium carbonate when it had been over 80,000 um you know you can't bring on new projects you can't build new projects and it's very hard apart from the most lean projects in the world to make any money at those prices. So, you know, now it's back to, I think, somewhere between 10 and $11,000 a ton. For me, I've always felt that 20 to 25 is the right number because at that number, people can take those investment decisions to build projects, to keep running projects, and and everyone can make some good returns. So, you know, it' be nice for everyone in the world if it just went up and stopped at $25,000 a ton. Um, but as we see with commodities, it'll probably go beyond that and then come back. Um, I think lithium is maturing, so hopefully we won't see the really wild swings that we have seen. Um, I don't think it'll go back up to 80,000, but I think uh I think we're going to see it as it matures really start to sort of hopefully get to that kind of range again where everyone makes good money. So, absolutely. I think I think the future is looking a lot better again on the lithium side. And you mentioned it. I'd love to dive a little bit deeper into this bombshell piece of news in the lithium sector that the US government has now taken a 5% stake in lithium Americas. I can see no better evidence of lithium being considered a critical mineral to the US administration than this move. How do you think this could impact the lithium market moving forward? And do you think we'll see more of this ahead? Perhaps an increased stake in Lithium Americas or the US government taking a stake in other lithium producing companies? Yeah, I mean I mean lithium Americas is one they've taken a big bet on. Um and it is the biggest project in in the US um and actually one of the biggest if not the biggest in the world um you know for the pass. So absolutely I think it made sense for them to start there. I think they will definitely go into other projects because you know yes it's a big project but uh you know if you believe the supply demand forecasts they're going to need a lot more than what that can produce. So you know if if we if we step back I mean the US production of lithium is tiny. It's way less than 1% um you know of of what's mined globally. So we're going to have to do several passes. So, so yes, I do think it is the way forward. I think it's also a statement of intent of what the US government will do across the critical minerals board. Um, it's not just lithium. There are other projects as well. So, you know, I think it's a really good sign of of intent. I think the fact that they also opened up the critical minerals list this year as they do every several years and they've added potsh and uran well uranium is not formally on it yet, but it will be. But for us, potach has been added which is another obviously key for us. So those projects on that list are way more likely to get funding from the government whether it's debt or equity and also subject to expedited permitting. Um and you know obviously that's really important as well. Well podash another commodity that looks potentially poised for a comeback. um you prices rising steadily so far this year, still a long ways to go to get back to previous all-time highs of April 2022. So, I guess a similar question to lithium. Do you think we could get back to those prices? And and what are the main catalysts that you currently see driving the podash market? Yeah, listen, I I I I I think we can see I think we'll continue to see it moving up nicely. I don't know if it'll get to the the the crazy prices that were seen, you know, at the time of the start of the Ukraine war. Um, you know, obviously that took potach or on the face of it took pot some of the potach off the global market. So, you know, it spiked on the back of that. Now, who knows? Geopolitical events today are even more crazy perhaps than they were three or four years ago. But I I I think one of the biggest drivers domestically and why the administration put potachsh on the critical mineral list is they do import about 95% of potach which is a massive number. Now a number of some of that a big chunk of that has been from Canada which is a major producer and you know historically a strong ally with um with the US but obviously we've seen the US doesn't want to be tied to anyone here. Um, and you know, you got China and Russia and and a lot of other parties as well that you know, relations are even more strained with. So, you know, I think I I think that's a huge driver. So, I do think you'll continue to see them move up steadily. Um I think there's also a recognition that with you know agriculture typically growing in around 5% compound annual growth rate um you're going to and pot ash the key fertilizer globally to help agricultural efficiency and ward off disease especially as soils get depleted you know as there's more and more farming. Um, so it comes down to food security, it becomes to down to supply chain security and all of these are key and and that's why it's gone on the critical minerals list and you know I do think it's a positive time for for potach and you know as well as the department of energy on the lithium side funding projects with debt. Um there's also a lot of money available on in the department of agriculture you know for agricultural type products including pot ash and we actually did see a very interesting grant to a peer in the paradox basin called sage pot ash um they uh they got some a grant from the department of agriculture to help them build a processing plant. Now I think we're even better positioned in our location in the paradox. Um and I do think as we develop the project here you know the opportunity to secure funding is on both the partach and lithium side. Um you know obviously we've got two critical minerals rather than just one is bigger and bigger. So it's definitely a very exciting time to be in domestic critical minerals. Well, I want to dive into into the company in just a moment and hone in on your project there, but first I would like to maybe pull on that thread regarding pod ash being added to the critical minerals list in the United States. Do you think we could eventually see a similar situation with uh lithium in terms of the government actually taking a stake in certain pot ash producers and what sort of tailwind does that government support provide to the sector? Yeah, I mean I I I do think it's logical. We've seen it in lithium. Um start starting off by providing debt to build projects, but I think you know the the fact that this government is prepared to take more of a risk and take equity risk, you know, is a good sign. Um the Department of Agricultural is actually a grant rather than a loan. So that's actually some of the best funding you can get. Um and it's because they want to see potach produced very quickly. You know you you on potach you're really coming from a standing start apart from intrepid potach which produces 300,000 tons a year and you have a country that's consuming close to 10 million. Um you know it's it's uh it you've got to move things quickly and get things going. And you know there are some good potachsh deposits in the US but they've got to be driven forward aggressively. So permitting funding but also not just funding to build things funding to help earlier stage companies develop and get to the next stage. And so, you know, equity obviously is the riskiest investment of all for for governments to take and I think a really strong signal of intent and absolutely I think it we'll see it in Portach and other critical minerals as well. Well, let's discuss how American Critical Minerals fits into the picture. As I mentioned at the top of the show, we did discuss the company in June of this year, but there's a lot of new viewers since then. So, could you start by providing an overview of the company? Yeah. So we have a large land package in uh you know what is thought by many to be the biggest um evaporate basin from the potential of potachsh production potential if you like um in the US. Some people term it as super basin, the only one in the US. And the super basin globally there's seven or eight of them. Obviously, you have a big one in Saskatchewan, but it's a basin um with the potential to produce a billion tons of potach. And so, the paradox, you know, meets that criteria in the eyes of many. So, it's a it's a great place to be. We're we're 20 minutes as the crow flies from the only um producing um potach producer in the US, Intrepid. Potash's Moab Mine. Now, they do have a couple of they have another facility in Utah and one in Arizona, but Moab was the original. It's been producing for 50 years. It's the first place they introduce solution mining globally, which is where you actually pump warm brine solution into the um pot ash cycles, create cabins um if you like, melt the pot ash, and then pump it to the surface in a in in an aqueous solution, which you then concentrate by solar evaporation and and concentrate the potach. So, it's got a rich history of potachsh um production very close to us. We're targeting exactly the same potach cycles, potach zones as uh as Intrepid. Um and so that's how the company was formed. It was focused on major potachsh fairway in the paradox. Um and in recent years, what's been really intriguing is the work that's been done on the lithium brine side. um you know because in in in the formation the pot ash is at about four or 5,000 ft and then two to 3,000 ft below that you've got lithium brines and you know in particular our neighbor that holds land contiguous with us so right next to us to the north and neighboring us in the south called Anson Resources has spent a lot of money and time defining resources they've now done a hugely successful pilot with KO you know, using DLE technology produce battery or shown the ability to produce battery grade lithium carbonate. And on the back of that, you've seen POSCO sign anou with with Anson. And just last week, LG, the big battery company globally, signing a definitive offtake. So I, you know, you got to commend Anson. They've done a lot of terrific work. So, we've not spent a penny, but given we're the meat and the sandwich, we now also have lithium, huge lithium potential in our brines. Um, and we know from all the historic oil and gas data across our project and surrounding it, you know, 23 wells that there's data for. And, you know, we know we we have the same potach, we know we have the same lithium. um you know and on the back of that you've seen this week we've come out with um you know we we had a large expiration target under 43101 we've now added a large lithium target and those are very meaningful um pieces of work under 43101 when you're dealing with blanket style mineralization like you are here in lithium and potachsh. So you know we've got two very large targets and actually we did end up with a third. There's um bromine which is a very interesting industrial gas is is a very large byproduct of the lithium production process that Anson's looked at and again we have large quantities of bromine. So you know we now have three large expiration targets two of which are critical minerals and I think we're really well poised to drive ahead. You know we have neighbors who are focused on potachsh or lithium and we're looking at both. you know, we've actually locked up the rights to to to both. Um, you know, we added pla claims to our apot licenses and um, you know, we have drill permits where in each hole we drill, we can test for both, which is great. So, we're really excited. We're well positioned and, you know, we're we're ready to go. Well, you've touched on some of the milestones that the company has achieved there in the Paradox Basin. Maybe you could dive a little bit deeper into that. um particularly since the last time we spoke or maybe since the beginning of the year, what what are some of the main items of progress that the company has made that that come top of mind for you? Yeah, I think I I think for me, you know, we've been really looking to get ourselves positioned to to to um to be able to drill. And so, you know, first off, we've renewed all our licenses, which is not a small um challenge for a young company because it's um you know, the licenses are expensive and as I say, we both have potach and lithium. So, so they're all they've all been renewed for another year. Um we've learned a lot from what Anson has done on the lithium side. I think they've since we spoke, you know, the the deal they have with POSCO, the results of their pilot um and now definitive offtake has been very positive for us. I think directly in the company now we've we're updating our 43101 technical report which will be available shortly, but we have just on Monday published uh two very large expiration targets, one for lithium, one for bromine to add to our pot ash. So, you know, we've we've learned a lot. We've refined all the information we have. We know where we need to drill um from the historic data as well. So, there is good drill control. Um and I think so that's really been our major our major focus for the last several months. And that now sets us up really well to to be able to drill, you know, later this year or early next. We don't have any constraints and timelines for drilling. Um, you know, we're in the heart of uh heart of Utah and uh obviously that's you know two years ago was ranked number one for in mining investment in the world as a jurisdiction. So really well positioned on that front. And then I I think just recently we announced the addition of Ken Taylor to our advisory board. And Ken was a senior VP within trepid. Obviously we're 20 miles away 20 minutes away as the crow flies from their project. Um and um you know there's there's obviously lots of synergies with what we're doing. they they sort of continuing to have to drill uh after 50 years of production and we're close by we're flatlying um we're we're targeting the same cycle so I think at some point developing that relationship and beyond that Ken's knowledge of the landscape of what's happening in the evaporate basins in Utah in general um but his knowledge of pot ash salts horizons and and lithium is first rate. So to have a guy on the ground like that as part of our team is very key strategically. So yeah, we've done a lot of work, a lot of things happening. That's fantastic. I have to pull in the thread regarding broine. I haven't even heard of that commodity. Could you maybe just give us a little bit of an intro to what the main industrial uses are and kind of the investment thesis behind that particular commodity? Yeah, I mean it's it's um it's a specialized industrial gas, you know, they use in in certain industrial processes. Um it's it's um dominated by two or three players. I think Tetra is one of it in the US. It trades at about I think three US 360 a kilo. So which would be equivalent to about $3,600 a ton. Um and we have um you know in in terms of our expiration target we're looking at somewhere in the 3.3 million to 9 million tons um of bromine of contained bromine. Obviously you know the numbers are something like 9 sorry 2 billion tons of it from a volume perspective at a grade of about you know close to 3,000 to 4,000 ppm. So good grades and that it distills down into about 3.3 to 9 million tons. So you know when you do an expiration target there's always a pretty big range but even at the lower end of that scale 3 you know 30 3.3 million tons at 3600 um a ton um is a very nice byproduct to have. Well, talk to us some more about the infrastructure you have in place at your project and any other pertinent details that we maybe we haven't covered yet. Um, your relationship with the local government and community. Um, you mentioned you've been renewed all your permits. Obviously, that's going smoothly. Uh, but just very interested in the overall regulatory environment as well in in that jurisdiction. Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, we're we're we're close to the town of Moab in Utah. Um we're just off a major highway because we have Intrepid just up the road. Um they put in a rail spur to that facility. So we've got rail very close. Um you know, as I say, it's a mining state. The Paradox Basin has seen a lot of oil and gas um work over the years, uranium historically, and now we're seeing um obviously more on the on the lithium side as well as the potach. So, you know, in terms of uh knowledge of mining uh and how to mine the paradox, there's a lot of knowledge locally. Um and you've got all of the um all all of the either rail or road routes to the industrial heartland of the US and the agricultural heartland. So, extremely well placed to develop these two critical minerals. And in terms of the state, as I mentioned earlier on, it was the Fraser Institute number one pick globally as a mining jurisdiction from the investment perspective in 2023. It's definitely in the top five last year. I haven't seen those numbers officially yet. Um, but a good place to work. We we're lucky we have a guy on the ground in Moab who is XB BLM who represents us. So, you know, we have an extremely good relationship with the regulators. I think I told you before that getting potachsh permits is a long arduous um process or has historically been. I think we're going to see that um ramp up under this new administration. But um you know the whole process with the BLM involved a lot of uh environmental impact work um and community outreach by the BLM and they did a great job on that. And so you know as I say we're we're we're permitted we have a plan of operations approved. We're permitted for four holes on on on BLM land and three on state land. So we have a total of seven um that we can drill. Um and um you know we've worked out what the bonding is on the BLM side. We've already paid the bonding on the state and um you know so we're pretty much ready to go on that front. Um and if you think of uh uh these blanket um uh styles of mineralization, you know, you don't need to drill hundreds of holes. Um you know, there's, as I say, there's a number of his historic holes around us. And so we believe if we drill in the one to three holes um we'll be able to come up with a a good resource you know converting the expiration targets on both the lithium and the potach side. So you know I think I think we're really well placed on that front and we're in a great jurisdiction to drive this forward. You raised a million dollars in a private placement last month. How do you plan to put that cash to work? What is your overall cash position right now and your debt obligations if any? Yeah, we don't have any debt. We're fully paid up for the year. Um, we have about 700,000 Canadian I think cash on hand. Um, we did we did pay for some uh for some marketing which we announced um you know some high level marketing um to to just build the awareness side of it. So we we announced that a few weeks ago as well. So we continue the push to get the name out there and and continue to um you know build awareness as I say you know the next phase for us um will be to add further capital to the balance sheet to drill and so obviously it's good for us that our stock price has you know has has pretty much tripled over the last 6 months or so here. Um and um you know we feel that with the awareness out there and and um you know knowledge base and what's happening in critical minerals we'll be really well placed to to to raise capital and then get the drill bit going. You know that's really the focus of the company now. Um and I we've got all the pieces in place on the technical side. Um so really it's been a little bit about making sure the market is aware and ready and so we've spent some money on that. our our monthly burn rate beyond that is typically it's very low. It's 50 to 60,000 a month. So, you know, we've got lots of running room still, but obviously, you know, we want to add the capital here to to drill. And, you know, it these these holes are expensive. They're deep. Um, you know, uh they go down as as deep as 8,000 ft. So, you know, it be in the range of 1.5 million US a hole. And um you know I ideally we want to drill three of them. So you know I think we've done a lot of really good work positioning the company to take that step and um you know built the team and I think we're ready to go here. I think we're ready to rock and roll. As I say we got permits in hand and uh you know we now know a lot more about the lithium and broine as well as the potach. So well positioned. Well Simon let's end by opening the floor to you. Is there anything we haven't yet discussed? Anything you want to emphasize that you think it's important for potential shareholders of American Critical Minerals to be aware of? Yeah, listen, I think I I think you know, potach has historically been a a niche pro uh product. It's it's definitely becoming more mainstream and a lot of it is driven by the by the growth in the agricultural sector and the need for food security as well as energy security. So, you know, we're seeing that in spades with this administration. So, I think I I think I think that's a real key here. You're starting to see a lot of interest come back into investing in potach. You know, there aren't a lot of junior peers. Um we've seen um Millennial Potes, which is a company that's often cited with a project in Gibbon, um get money from the US government because the US government is trying to to add new um sources of of potach even if it's overseas um to to drive it forward. And millennial stock prices, I think it's 10 to 15 times over the last 12 months. It's gone from about 30 cents to about 3 bucks 40. Um, and you know, and that's in Africa in Gabon. Now, they are close to a tide water, but you know, I would point out we're right in the heart of the US. So, you know, there's some really good signs what's happening in the sector in terms of the juniors. And then, as you mentioned off the top, we've seen a lot of the um lithium players actually start to get a bit again and move up. So, I think with both having two products rather than one and being able to drill both in each hole, uh, and and move this to resource and pfs in a very quick timeline. Uh, again, this isn't hard rock. This is this is evaporate basin, you know, where you're testing brines and uh and potach cycles that are are blanket styles of mineralization. So, I think we can do a lot very quickly here. uh and I think we can close the valuation gap very quickly on uh our peers like Millennial you know I mentioned Sage Potach which is further south little bit more advanced than us they have a they have a resource out of there um I think I'm I would prefer I I prefer our location and our proximity to the existing production in the basin um and uh I think we've got a lot of room here as I say to close that valuation gap well Simon this has been a fantastic conversation. I'm going to put links in the description below to the American Critical Minerals website as well as social media for people to follow along with the company. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your knowledge with the audience. Thanks, Jesse. Appreciate it. Commodity Culture is a series on commodities and natural resources. If you would like to see more, be sure to subscribe and hit the bell notification so you're always up to date with the latest episodes.