Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Resource Capital Fund V L.P announces holdings in Talison Lithium Limited

DENVER, Oct. 6 /CNW/ - Resource Capital Fund V L.P. ("RCF V") announces that pursuant to a plan of arrangement under Section 288 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Plan of Arrangement") involving Talison Lithium Limited ("Talison") and Salares Lithium Inc. ("Salares") effected on September 22, 2010, RCF V acquired ownership of 8,540,880 ordinary shares ("Ordinary Shares") of Talison (the "Acquisition"), representing approximately 9.68% of all outstanding Ordinary Shares.
On August 19, 2010, RCF V acquired 24,000,000 subscription receipts of Salares ("Subscription Receipts") for a price of $1.245 per Subscription Receipt ($29,880,000 in aggregate). Pursuant to the terms of the Subscription Receipts and in connection with the Plan of Arrangement, RCF V completed the Acquisition and received 0.35587 of an Ordinary Share for each Subscription Receipt. Based on a price of $1.245 per Subscription Receipt, the consideration offered per Ordinary Shares was $3.50.
Prior to the Acquisition, RCF V owned 6,446,625 Ordinary Shares. As a result of the Acquisition, RCF V owns 14,987,505 Ordinary Shares, representing approximately 16.99% of all outstanding Ordinary Shares.
RCF V acquired the Ordinary Shares for investment purposes and may purchase or sell securities of Talison in the future on the open market or in private transactions, depending on market conditions and other factors material to the investment decisions of RCF V. The Acquisition did not take place on a stock market.

For further information: To obtain a copy of the early warning report (also available under Talison's profile at www.sedar.com) filed in connection with this release, please contact Russ Cranswick at 720-946-1453

Monday, October 11, 2010

SIFMA Calls System Wide, Moratorium on All mortgage Foreclosures ‘Catastrophic’

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Press Release

Release Date: October 11, 2010

Contact: Katrina Cavalli, (212) 313-1181, kcavalli@sifma.org

New York, NY, October 11, 2010—The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) today issued the following statement from Tim Ryan, president and CEO, on the foreclosure moratorium related to issues in foreclosure processing:

“It would be catastrophic to impose a system wide moratorium on all foreclosures and such actions could do damage to the housing market and the economy. It must be recognized that the mortgage market, investors and the health of the economy are all inter-related. Investors in the housing market—including American workers with pension funds, 401k plans, and mutual funds—would unjustly suffer losses in their savings from these actions. Increased uncertainty in the securitization market would further constrain consumer credit and spending, dampening our already unhealthy economic situation. If mistakes have been made in relation to foreclosure processing, SIFMA firmly believes such mistakes should be corrected. It is imperative, however, that care be taken in addressing these issues to ensure that no unnecessary damage is done to an already weak housing market and, in turn, that there is no further negative impact on the economy.”

-30-

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) brings together the shared interests of hundreds of securities firms, banks and asset managers. SIFMA's mission is to support a strong financial industry, investor opportunity, capital formation, job creation and economic growth, while building trust and confidence in the financial markets. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit www.sifma.org.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

FACTBOX-Lithium: Where does it come from? How is it mined?(1 hour ago by Thomson Reuters)

Oct 7 (Reuters) - Here are the key ways of mining lithium, a highly reactive material that is used in batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles. Demand is likely to double over the next decade as more electric vehicles arrive on the road.

Lithium is mined from three sources: lithium brines, spodumene and clay deposits.

Analysts generally agree that cost of production for lithium brines is about half that of spodumene, which is a hard rock. As a result, salt lake exploration has boomed.

BRINES

Concentration: Not all salt lakes contain lithium, and in order to be cost effective, the concentration should be 600 mg of lithium per liter.
Magnesium: Too much magnesium can also cause problems, a ratio of more than 9:1 magnesium to lithium is considered uneconomical.

Evaporation: With brines, salt water containing lithium is pumped from the ground and into an evaporation pond. Filling the pond takes about a year, then the evaporation process can take anywhere from about eight months to three years.

MAIN BRINE PRODUCERS:
SQM - Atacama, Chile - over 1000 mg lithium per liter
Rockwood <ROC.N> - Atacama, Chile - over 1000 mg lithium per liter
Rockwood - Silver Peak, U.S. - 200 mg lithium per liter
FMC <FMC.N> - Hombre Muerto, Argentina - 600 mg lithium per liter
Bolivia - Salar de Uyuni - largest lithium deposit in the world
China - Zabuye, Dongtai, Xitai deposits in Tibet

SPODUMENE
With spodumene deposits, the rock must be mined, heated up to 1,100 degrees Celsius and then pulverized before the spodumene crystal are processed with acid to produce lithium.
Once a mine is in production, getting lithium from hard rock is far quicker than producing from a brine. But costs are higher because it involves traditional mining and an energy intensive separation process.

MAIN SPODUMENE PRODUCERS
Talison Lithium TLH-TSX - Greenbushes, Australia (worlds largest pure lithium producer)
Significant deposits being explored in Canada, U.S. and China.

HECTORITE CLAY
A newer source of lithium is clay deposits - which sits between brines and hard rock in terms of cost-effectiveness.The mining costs are cheaper with clay, as it is relatively easy to extract. But the clay must be leached or roasted to extract the lithium, a chemically intensive process.
There is currently no lithium produced from hectorite, but explorers say processing clay in Nevada could rival Chile's brines for cost-effectiveness.

CLAY EXPLORERS
Western Lithium <WLC.V> - Kings Valley, Nevada
Rodina Lithium RM-ŦSX Kings Valley, Nevada (also has brine property in Argentina)

Sources: Dundee Securities Corporation, Byron Capital Markets, U.S. Geological Survey, company websites. (Reporting by Julie Gordon; editing by Janet Guttsman)

Related Articles:Investing in Lithium companies big and small
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Lithium giant raises output to meet demand FP

Electric cars put lithium miners on fast track (1 hour ago by Thomson Reuters)

* Lithium demand seen doubling by 2020

* Push for fuel economy through hybrids, EVs boosts demand

* Battery makers, automakers buying stakes in miners

* Producers see benefits of diversifying production

By Julie Gordon
TORONTO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Lithium miners are reaping the benefits of a political and industry push to get more electric vehicles on the road, with shares in some Canadian-listed miners up more than 50 percent in the past two months.

Four major producers have long dominated lithium output and demand is likely to double in the next 10 years as automakers roll out hybrid and electric cars using lithium-ion batteries.
That has opened the door to numerous exploration companies and junior miners looking to capitalize on the trend.

But while lithium is fairly abundant, it is not easy to find a cost-effective deposit and process the highly reactive metal. That points to increased M&A activity for companies with promising reserves but only a distant chance of production.

"Lithium is an extremely active area," Byron Capital Markets analyst Jon Hykawy said of deals in the sector, adding that most automakers and battery companies want to spread their lithium purchases over several miners. "No one major firm is going to stop with one small junior prospect," he said. "They can't put all their eggs in one basket that way."

Early this year, Magna International acquired a 13.3 percent stake in junior miner Lithium Americas in exchange for a guaranteed 25 percent share of production, even though the Toronto-based company doesn't plan on having a single ounce of lithium to sell before 2014.
Shares of the Lithium Americas have risen 60 percent in the past two months on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

"You always protect your supply chain," said Ted Robertson, president of Magna's E-Car Systems. "To mine lithium, and have it in the form we need for these batteries, there are only certain people doing that today."
Magna, the world's third-largest auto parts manufacturer, recently created an E-Car division, which will build parts for hybrid and electric cars, as well as full electric cars.

The company uses about 8.9 kilograms (19.6 pounds) of lithium for each battery pack, along with other elements such as cobalt, nickel and iron. "I would say that lithium, as the basic substance in batteries, will be the current technology being used over the next 10-20 years," Robertson said. After that: "My bet is we'll just refine the lithium compounds that are used in the batteries today."

For graphic on lithium demand: http://r.reuters.com/guk47p
Three diversified companies, SQM , Rockwood's Chemetall and FMC , account for 60 percent of global lithium carbonate production.

The only pure-play producer is Australia's Talison Lithium -TLH-TSX with about 24 percent.
Talison recently bought Salares Lithium and used the Vancouver-based company to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Looking ahead, companies with promising properties like Rodinia Lithium <RM.V>, Lithium One <LI.V> and Western Lithium <WLC.V> could become takeover targets, said Hykawy. And with demand soaring, there is space for two or three of the junior miners to grow into major players, analysts say.

Global lithium output doubled to 92,000 tonnes in 2008 from 45,000 tonnes in 1997, and one major producer says demand will be over 200,000 tonnes in 2020.

"That's a major, major step forward in terms of demand forecast by a major lithium producer," Hykawy said. "It strongly suggests that there's more than enough room for the juniors to come to the market, to become major players."

CURBING CARBON EMISSIONS
The main force driving growth is the push by U.S. and European governments to reduce carbon emissions, including a U.S. plan to increase fuel economy by 42 percent by 2016. "We think the only way they can do that is by doing the electrification of vehicles - so more use of hybrids," said Tom Astle, head of research for Dundee Capital Markets.

The majority of the world's lithium supply is currently mined from giant salt lakes in Argentina and Chile that offer a low-cost, high-grade source of the reactive metal. But not all salt lakes contain lithium.

"People think that simply because you stake ground in a salt lake it means that you have lithium mine," said Lithium Americas Chief Executive Waldo Perez. "Well it's not." He added that production from brines takes at least two years, making responding to rapid changes in demand difficult.

Lithium can also be mined from hard rock, called spodumene, in a quicker but costlier process.

For Talison, a spodumene miner with projects in Australia, the decision to buy Salares for its Salares 7 brine project in Chile was easy. "The logic of combining a mineral producer and a brine producer is that it guarantees a secure supply," said Chief Executive Peter Oliver. "If you're looking at a car manufacturer that's putting $100 of lithium into a $50,000 car, the one thing they do want is to guarantee a high-quality, secure supply."

($1=$1.01 Canadian) (Reporting by Julie Gordon; Editing by Frank McGurty and Janet Guttsman)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

TALISON LITHIUM REPORTS STRONG YEAR-END PRODUCTION RESULTS

(Notes: Talison Lithium (“TSX: TLH”) is up 37% in first week of public trading.)

Talison also Announces Greenbushes Phase I Plant Expansion and Reserve Expansion Drilling Underway

NEWS RELEASE
Vancouver, British Columbia, October 5, 2010

Talison Lithium Limited (“Talison” or the “Company”) (“TSX: TLH”)
is pleased to provide the following year-end unaudited production results for its Greenbushes lithium mine (the “Greenbushes Lithium Operations”) in Western Australia.
Greenbushes Lithium Operations - Year End Production Results
The following production highlights are for the Greenbushes Lithium Operations for the financial year ended June 30, 2010:

Lithium concentrate production of 276,906 tonnes (41,000 tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent (“LCE”)), representing a 33% increase over 2009; and Lithium concentrate sales of 256,767 tonnes (38,000 tonnes LCE), representing a 19% increase over 2009.

The Greenbushes Lithium Operations finished fiscal 2010 with record lithium concentrate production. In addition, the demand for both technical and chemical grade lithium concentrate increased during 2010 as markets showed significant signs of recovery after the global financial crisis in 2009.

Greenbushes Lithium Operations - Stage 1 Expansion
The Stage 1 expansion of chemical grade lithium concentrate production capacity at the Greenbushes Lithium Operations is currently underway with completion anticipated early in calendar 2011. This expansion is designed to add 50,000 tonnes per annum of lithium concentrate production capacity (8,000 tonnes LCE) to satisfy current customer demand.

2
Reserve & Resource Expansion Drilling Program
In September 2010 Talison initiated a drill program at the Greenbushes Lithium Operations with the aim of significantly increasing its lithium reserves and resources. An updated reserve and resources statement is currently planned to be completed during the second calendar quarter of 2011.
Talison’s current proven and probable mineral reserves total 9.6Mt at a grade of 3.9% Li2O. The measured and indicated mineral resource (inclusive of the mineral reserves) totals 22.0Mt at a grade of 3.7% Li2O. Talison’s current mineral resources and mineral reserves at the Greenbushes Lithium Operations are set out in its entirety in the tables below.

Greenbushes Lithium Mineral Resources at March 31, 2010 Category Tonnage (Mt) Li2O Grade (%)
Measured Mineral Resource
0.10
3.9
Indicated Mineral Resource
21.9
3.7
Total Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource
22.0
3.7
Inferred Mineral Resource
2.7
3.5

Notes: Mineral Resources include Technical Grade ore type at a 4% Li2O block cut-off (and Fe2O3<0.1%) and Chemical Grade ore type at a 3.2% Li2O block cut-off; Mineral Resources estimated by Ordinary Kriging into 20mNx20mEx5mRL parent blocks; stockpiles included as Measured Mineral Resources; some rounding errors in totals; Lithium domains are drawn at a 2.8% Li2O grade boundary.

Greenbushes Lithium Mineral Reserves at March 31, 2010 Category Tonnage (Mt) Li2O Grade (%)
Total Proven Mineral Reserve
0.10
3.9
Total Probable Mineral Reserve
9.5
3.9
Total Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve
9.6
3.9

Notes: Proven Mineral Reserves comprise exclusively ROM stockpiles; some rounding errors in totals; Mineral Reserves at June 30, 2009 depleted by production of 431,000t to March 31, 2010; further depletion of the Mineral Reserves of 212,190t has occurred during the production period from April 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010 but the Mineral Reserves have not been updated from March 31, 2010.

About Talison
Talison is an international mining company that is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Talison is the leading global producer of lithium. Talison mines and processes the lithium bearing mineral spodumene at the Greenbushes Lithium Operations in Western Australia which has been in production for in excess of 25 years. During this time the operation has continually expanded as market demand warrants and based on current reserves and production plans boasts a mine life of in excess of 12 years. Talison is the primary supplier to the Chinese Lithium chemical producers, who in turn are the major suppliers to the Chinese battery market. In addition, Talison explores for lithium in Chile at the Salares 7 lithium project made up of seven salars (brine lakes that are prospective for sub-surface lithium and potassium) and the surrounding concessions in Region III, Chile. Talison also has an extensive, well established global customer network and a leading position in the growing Chinese market.

3
For further information please contact:
Talison Lithium Limited
Todd Hilditch
Investor Relations Director
Talison Lithium Limited
Tel: 604 443 3831
Email: Todd.Hilditch@talisonlithium.com
www.talisonlithium.com
Cautionary Notes

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release, including any information as to Talison’s strategy, projects, plans, prospects, future outlook, anticipated events or results or future financial or operating performance, constitutes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can often, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, “predicts”, “potential”, “continue” or “believes”, or variations (including negative variations) of such words; or statements that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “might”, “potential to”, or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved or other similar expressions concerning matters that are not historical facts.

The purpose of forward-looking statements is to provide the reader with information about management’s expectations and plans for 2011 and subsequent years. Actual results may vary.

Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of factors, estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Talison, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Such factors, estimates and assumptions include, but are not limited to, lithium market and lithium concentrate prices; sales risks related to China; currency risks; dependence on limited mining properties; uncertainty in the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources; uncertainty relating to inferred mineral resources; production and operating risk; uncertainty relating to production estimates; total cash cost of lithium concentrate production; environmental risks and hazards; licenses and permits; uncertainty relating to remediation costs; proposed Australian mineral resource rent tax; government regulation; lithium exploration and exploitation in Chile; uncertainty relating to land over-staking; availability of water rights; human resources availability and retention; native title; aboriginal heritage; no assurance of titles or boundaries; exploration and mining tenements forfeiture; exploration risk; counterparty risk; concentrated customer base; risks to the Greenbushes Lithium Operations as a result of Talison’s recent reorganization; insurance and uninsured risks; impairment of asset carrying values; general economic condition, business environment and other risks; financing requirements; control risk; dividend policy; director and officer conflicts of interests; difficulty enforcing judgements and effective service of process; volatile market for ordinary shares; and future sales of ordinary shares by Talison’s founding shareholders. These risks and uncertainties are fully described in detail in Appendix “D”, Information Concerning Talison Lithium Limited, to the Management Information Circular of Salares Lithium Inc. (“Salares”) dated August 20, 2010, which can be found on Salares’ SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. While Talison considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect.
Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Talison and/or its subsidiaries, including costs, production and returns, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors are fully discussed in Appendix “D”, Information Concerning Talison Lithium Limited, to the Management Information Circular of Salares dated August 20, 2010, which can be found on Salares’ SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking statements made or incorporated in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements.

Although Talison has attempted to identify statements containing important factors that could cause actual actions, event or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended.
Forward-looking information contained herein are made as of the date of this document based on the opinions and estimates of management on the date statements containing such forward looking information are made. Except as required by law, Talison disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, estimates or opinions, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward looking information.

Technical Information
Certain technical information in this press release has been summarized or extracted from the technical report in respect of the Greenbushes Lithium Operations titled “Greenbushes Lithium Operations in Western Australia – Australia” dated July 26, 2010 (the “Technical Report”) prepared by Peter D. Ingham, Adrian J. Brett, and Ian R. White of Behre Dolbear Australia Pty Limited, and Scott Jackson of Quantitative Group Pty Limited, each of whom is an independent “Qualified Person” as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been prepared under the supervision of Andrew Purvis, BSc (Hons), MSc, MAusIMM, Group Geologist of Talison whom is a “Qualified Person” as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Readers are cautioned not to rely solely on the summary of information contained in this release, but should read the Technical Report which is posted on Talison’s website at www.talisonlithium.com and filed under Talison’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and any future amendments to such report. Readers are also directed to the cautionary notices and disclaimers contained therein

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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Rodinia Lithium Inc. Reports Additional High-Grade Lithium-Potash Brines at Salar De Diablillos, Argentina

Image by plαdys via Flickr

by Marketwire

Rodinia Lithium Inc. ("Rodinia" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: RM)(OTCQX: RDNAF), is pleased to report that it has encountered additional high-grade lithium and potash in its second reverse circulation drill hole of its first exploration program on its Salar de Diablillos lithium-brine project in Salta, Argentina ("Diablillos" or the "Salar").

The Company continues to be encouraged by the results of the exploration program and believes, based on the results of the first two drill holes and the gravity survey data, that they may be indicative of a sizeable, continuous aquifer capable of becoming a producer.

William Randall, President and CEO of Rodinia, commented "It is encouraging that this second drill hole has intersected similarly high-grades of lithium, potassium and boron as our first drill hole, only now to depths of 150 metres and nearer the Salar margin. The results of two drill holes over 1 kilometre apart, and the geophysical data available, provides further encouragement for the potential to delineate a large scale resource. Rodinia continues to execute on the first ever drill campaign for new lithium and potash on Diablillos and is working to define a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate on the Salar by year's end."

Results from drill hole D-RC-02, the second drill hole completed on the project, intersected lithium ("Li") values of up to 690 milligrams per litre ("mg/L") and returned averages of 607 mg/L Li, 6,877 mg/L potassium ("K"), and 794 mg/L boron ("B") over the 150 metre drill hole depth. The hole, located towards the Salar margin, intersected lithologies primarily composed of sand and gravel, with coarser material encountered down hole. The zone continues to be open at depth and in all directions.

The lithium concentrations measured in the drill hole range from 410 to 690 mg/L, demonstrating a remarkably even grade distribution over the aquifer, and indicating the potential of the entire stratigraphic column as a possible producer. Samples were taken every six metres to ensure different characteristics of the brine column were captured, with the intention of identifying the horizons with the most potential for production. The geochemistry of the brine samples remained comparable to those encountered during auger drilling (see previous press release dated May 26, 2010) and during the drilling of hole D-RC-01 (see previous press release dated September 17, 2010), with average magnesium-to-lithium ratio of 4.37 and a sulphate-to-lithium ratio of 17.5.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
----
                      depth (metres)  milligrams per litre      ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sample               From        To    Li      K         B   Mg:Li   SO4:Li
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-001            12        18   650   7500       540     3.5     12.8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-002            18        24   500   5800       480     3.6     10.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-003            24        30
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-004            30        36   510   6000       500     3.7      9.2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-005            36        42   540   6300       510     3.5      9.8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-006            42        48   610   7100       540     3.8     11.3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-007            48        54   580   6800       530     3.6      9.7
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-008            54        60   410   4800       590     5.6     21.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-009            60        66   630   7300       780     3.5     22.2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-010            66        72   670   7800       730     3.3     20.9
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-011            72        78   690   7900       740     4.1     20.3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-012            78        84   620   7000       800     5.5     21.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-013            84        90   600   6800       820     5.5     20.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-014            90        96   610   6900       850     5.4     19.7
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-015            96       102   660   7500       800     4.7     18.2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-016           102       108   590   6600       820     4.6     20.3
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-017           108       114   640   7200       790     4.1     17.2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-018           114       120   600   6700       840     4.7     20.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-019           120       126   630   7200       810     4.1     19.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-020           126       132   600   6600       980     5.0     21.7
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-021           132       135   610   6700       950     4.8     23.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-022           135       138   630   7000       910     4.4     17.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-023           138       144   610   6800       880     4.6     18.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-RC-02-024           144       150   610   6700       960     4.9     19.7
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Asampling procedure was enforced by management to ensure sample integrity during the drill program. Where possible, brine and sediments samples were air lifted, and water restricted to the upper part of the hole before the water table was intercepted. Once brine bearing horizons were intercepted, drilling was halted and the drilling pipe lifted 2 feet or more to allow the total flushing of the internal pipe by means of air pressure for approximately ten minutes or until the brine appeared reasonably clean of sediment. After sufficient air lifting of the brine, a sample was collected in 500 ml sample bottles that had been washed three times with the brine. Liquid was also collected in five gallon buckets and the time of filling of the bucket recorded, in order to aid in quantifying the formational flow.

Rodinia has completed 9 drill holes on the newly discovered Salar de Diablillos basin. Generally, the holes intersected unconsolidated sand and gravel saturated with high salinity brines. Flow rates in the sand and gravels have been highly variable ranging from 40 litres per minute to 1,080 litres per minute, including artesian conditions in some drill holes. The Company intends to provide updated information on the remaining drill holes upon receipt of assay results from the laboratory.

The Project is supervised by William Randall, MSc (Geology), the President and CEO of Rodinia, and by Ray Spanjers, Rodinia's Manager of Exploration. Both Messrs. Randall and Spanjers are considered qualified persons, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and both have reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this release. According to the Company's sampling protocol, sample size is to exceed 300 millilitres and be stored in clean, secure containers for transportation. The prepared samples are then forwarded to the ALS Laboratory Group, Environmental Division, in Fort Collins, Co (USA) for analysis. A rigorous QA/QC program is implemented consisting of regular insertion of standards and blanks to ensure laboratory integrity.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About Rodinia Lithium Inc.:
Rodinia Lithium Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company with a primary focus on lithium exploration and development in North and South America. The Company is positioned to capitalize on the expected increase in demand for lithium carbonate that is projected to result from the anticipated paradigm shift to mass adoption and use of key lithium applications like lithium-ion batteries as well as glass ceramics, greases, pharmaceuticals etc.

Rodinia is currently exploring its Clayton Valley project in Nevada, USA, which surrounds the only lithium-brine producer in North America, and its Salar de Diablillos project in Salta, Argentina.
Please visit the Company's web site at www.rodinialithium.com or write us at info@rodinialithium.com. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/RodiniaLithium

Cautionary Notes
Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements regarding the impact of the drill program at the Diablillos property and results of such drill program; the potential of the Diablillos property; the potential results and timetable for further exploration with respect to the Clayton Valley project and the Diablillos property, the timetable with respect to future acquisitions and exploration developments at Clayton Valley and Diablillos, timetable for further exploration, analysis and development, title disputes or claims; and governmental approvals and regulation. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, financing risks, acquisition risks, risks inherent in the mining industry, and regulatory risks. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

NEITHER THE 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 RELEASE.

Contacts:
Investor Cubed Inc.
Neil Simon
+1 (647) 258-3310

Rodinia Lithium Inc.
Aaron Wolfe
Vice-President, Corporate Development
+1 (416) 309-2696
info@rodinialithium.com
www.rodinialithium.com

SOURCE: Rodinia Lithium Inc.

mailto:info@rodinialithium.com
http://www.rodinialithium.com

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Terrorism, Vigilance and the Limits of the War on Terror

Image via Wikipedia

By George Friedman
The U.S. government issued a warning Oct. 3 advising Americans traveling to Europe to be “vigilant.” U.S. intelligence apparently has acquired information indicating that al Qaeda is planning to carry out attacks in European cities similar to those carried out in Mumbai, India, in November 2008. In Mumbai, attackers armed with firearms, grenades and small, timed explosive devices targeted hotels frequented by Western tourists and other buildings in an attack that took three days to put down.

European security forces are far better trained and prepared than their Indian counterparts, and such an attack would be unlikely to last for hours, much less days, in a European country. Still, armed assaults conducted by suicide operatives could be expected to cause many casualties and certainly create a dramatic disruption to economic and social life.
The first question to ask about the Oct. 3 warning, which lacked specific and actionable intelligence, is how someone can be vigilant against such an attack. There are some specific steps that people can and should take to practice good situational awareness as well as some common-sense travel-security precautions. But if you find yourself sleeping in a hotel room as gunmen attack the building, rush to your floor and start entering rooms, a government warning simply to be vigilant would have very little meaning.

The world is awash in intelligence about terrorism. Most of it is meaningless speculation, a conversation intercepted between two Arabs about how they’d love to blow up London Bridge. The problem, of course, is how to distinguish between idle chatter and actual attack planning. There is no science involved in this, but there are obvious guidelines. Are the people known to be associated with radical Islamists? Do they have the intent and capability to conduct such an attack? Were any specific details mentioned in the conversation that can be vetted? Is there other intelligence to support the plot discussed in the conversation?

The problem is that what appears quite obvious in the telling is much more ambiguous in reality. At any given point, the government could reasonably raise the alert level if it wished. That it doesn’t raise it more frequently is tied to three things. First, the intelligence is frequently too ambiguous to act on. Second, raising the alert level warns people without really giving them any sense of what to do about it. Third, it can compromise the sources of its intelligence.

The current warning is a perfect example of the problem. We do not know what intelligence the U.S. government received that prompted the warning, and I suspect that the public descriptions of the intelligence do not reveal everything that the government knows. We do know that a German citizen was arrested in Afghanistan in July and has allegedly provided information regarding this threat, but there are likely other sources contributing to the warning, since the U.S. government considered the intelligence sufficient to cause concern. The Obama administration leaked on Saturday that it might issue the warning, and indeed it did.

The government did not recommend that Americans not travel to Europe. That would have affected the economy and infuriated Europeans. Leaving tourism aside, since tourism season is largely over, a lot of business is transacted by Americans in Europe. The government simply suggested vigilance. Short of barring travel, there was nothing effective the government could do. So it shifted the burden to travelers. If no attack occurs, nothing is lost. If an attack occurs, the government can point to the warning and the advice. Those hurt or killed would not have been vigilant.

I do not mean to belittle the U.S. government on this. Having picked up the intelligence it can warn the public or not. The public has a right to know, and the government is bound by law and executive order to provide threat information. But the reason that its advice is so vague is that there is no better advice to give. The government is not so much washing its hands of the situation as acknowledging that there is not much that anyone can do aside from the security measures travelers should already be practicing.

The alert serves another purpose beyond alerting the public. It communicates to the attackers that their attack has been detected if not penetrated, and that the risks of the attack have pyramided. Since these are most likely suicide attackers not expecting to live through the attack, the danger is not in death. It is that the Americans or the Europeans might have sufficient intelligence available to thwart the attack. From the terrorist point of view, losing attackers to death or capture while failing to inflict damage is the worst of all possible scenarios. Trained operatives are scarce, and like any strategic weapon they must be husbanded and, when used, cause maximum damage. When the attackers do not know what Western intelligence knows, their risk of failure is increased along with the incentive to cancel the attack. A government warning, therefore, can prevent an attack.

In addition, a public warning can set off a hunt for the leak within al Qaeda. Communications might be shut down while the weakness is examined. Members of the organization might be brought under suspicion. The warning can generate intense uncertainty within al Qaeda as to how much Western intelligence knows. The warning, if it correlates with an active plot, indicates a breach of security, and a breach of security can lead to a witch-hunt that can paralyze an organization.
Therefore, the warning might well have served a purpose, but the purpose was not necessarily to empower citizens to protect themselves from terrorists. Indeed, there might have been two purposes. One might have been to disrupt the attack and the attackers. The other might have been to cover the government if an attack came.

In either case, it has to be recognized that this sort of warning breeds cynicism among the public. If the warning is intended to empower citizens, it engenders a sense of helplessness, and if no attack occurs, it can also lead to alert fatigue. What the government is saying to its citizenry is that, in the end, it cannot guarantee that there won’t be an attack and therefore its citizens are on their own. The problem with that statement is not that the government isn’t doing its job but that the job cannot be done. The government can reduce the threat of terrorism. It cannot eliminate it.

This brings us to the strategic point. The defeat of jihadist terror cells cannot be accomplished defensively. Homeland security can mitigate the threat, but it can never eliminate it. The only way to eliminate it is to destroy all jihadist cells and prevent the formation of new cells by other movements or by individuals forming new movements, and this requires not just destroying existing organizations but also the radical ideology that underlies them. To achieve this, the United States and its allies would have to completely penetrate a population of about 1.3 billion people and detect every meeting of four or five people planning to create a terrorist cell. And this impossible task would not even address the problem of lone-wolf terrorists. It is simply impossible to completely dominate and police the entire world, and any effort to do so would undoubtedly induce even more people to turn to terrorism in opposition to the global police state.

Will Rogers was asked what he might do to deal with the German U-boat threat in World War I. He said he would boil away the Atlantic, revealing the location of the U-boats that could then be destroyed. Asked how he would do this, he answered that that was a technical question and he was a policymaker.

The idea of suppressing jihadist terrorism through direct military action in the Islamic world would be an idea Will Rogers would have appreciated. It is a superb plan from a policymaking perspective. It suffers only from the problem of technical implementation. Even native Muslim governments motivated to suppress Islamic terrorism, like those in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Algeria or Yemen, can’t achieve this goal absolutely. The idea that American troops, outnumbered and not speaking the language or understanding the culture, can do this is simply not grounded in reality.

The United States and Europe are going to be attacked by jihadist terrorists from time to time, and innocent people are going to be killed, perhaps in the thousands again. The United States and its allies can minimize the threat through covert actions and strong defenses, but they cannot eliminate it. The hapless warning to be vigilant that was issued this past weekend is the implicit admission of this fact.

This is not a failure of will or governance. The United States can’t conceivably mount the force needed to occupy the Islamic world, let alone pacify it to the point where it can’t be a base for terrorists. Given that the United States can’t do this in Afghanistan, the idea that it might spread this war throughout the Islamic world is unsupportable.

The United States and Europe are therefore dealing with a threat that cannot be stopped by their actions. The only conceivably effective actions would be those taken by Muslim governments, and even those are unlikely to be effective. There is a deeply embedded element within a small segment of the Islamic world that is prepared to conduct terror attacks, and this element will occasionally be successful.

All people hate to feel helpless, and this trait is particularly strong among Americans. There is a belief that America can do anything and that something can and should be done to eliminate terrorism and not just mitigate it. Some Americans believe sufficiently ruthless military action can do it. Others believe that reaching out in friendship might do it. In the end, the terrorist element will not be moved by either approach, and no amount of vigilance (or new bureaucracies) will stop them.
It would follow then that the West will have to live with the terrorist threat for the foreseeable future. This does not mean that military, intelligence, diplomatic, law-enforcement or financial action should be stopped. Causing most terrorist attempts to end in failure is an obviously desirable end. It not only blocks the particular action but also discourages others. But the West will have to accept that there are no measures that will eliminate the threat entirely. The danger will persist.
Effort must be made to suppress it, but the level of effort has to be proportional not to the moral insult of the terrorist act but to considerations of other interests beyond counterterrorism. The United States has an interest in suppressing terrorism. Beyond a certain level of effort, it will reach a point of diminishing returns. Worse, by becoming narrowly focused on counterterrorism and over-committing resources to it, the United States will leave other situations unattended as it focuses excessively on a situation it cannot improve.

The request that Americans be vigilant in Europe represents the limits of power on the question of terrorism. There is nothing else that can be done and what can be done is being done. It also drives home the fact that the United States and the West in general cannot focus all of its power on solving a problem that is beyond its power to solve. The long war against terrorism will not be the only war fought in the coming years. The threat of jihadism must be put in perspective and the effort aligned with what is effective. The world is a dangerous place, as they say, and jihadism is only one of the dangers.

"Terrorism, Vigilance and the Limits of the War on Terror is republished with permission of STRATFOR."

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