History
A Nevada shell turned lithium explorer won Japanese partner backing for Borate Hills, but relied on costly insider loans until a $9.5 million sale collapsed in 2012.
2009: From shell to lithium explorer
The company began as Nugget Resources Inc., a Nevada shell. On 6 May 2009 it renamed itself American Lithium Minerals and signed a letter agreement with GeoXplor Corp for an option on 100 unpatented mining claims in Esmeralda County, Nevada, near Tonopah. The option called for $370,000 over four years, 750,000 shares, a $2 million exploration commitment and a 3% royalty on any lithium carbonate produced. On 16 June it closed an option on a related 88-claim block, the Montezuma Mineral claims, on much the same terms. In August it filed the extended disclosure required now that it was an operating business rather than a shell.
2010: New assets and a Japanese partner
Under new President and CEO Hugh Aird, the company broadened its holdings. In January 2010 it agreed to acquire five early-stage brine exploration projects in Nevada from Gold Summit Corporation. In February it bought the Borate Hills property and related Nevada and Utah claims from Robert and Barbra Craig, Elizabeth Dickman and Nevada Alaska Mining Co. for $80,000, 1.7 million shares and 2% royalties. Borate Hills became its main asset. In June it signed a memorandum of agreement giving Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), a Japanese government-backed resource company, an option to earn up to 40% of the North and South Borate Hills project by investing $4 million over three years. In September it took on up to $750,000 in secured convertible notes from 2245393 Ontario, Inc., with $500,000 advanced at first. Shares on issue stood at 53,390,740 at the end of 2010.
2011-2012: Mounting debt
Cash grew tighter. In April 2011 the same Ontario lender provided a further $350,000-plus-$150,000 secured convertible note, conditional on the company raising at least $100,000 elsewhere and filing a technical resource report (NI 43-101) by July 2011, and the 2010 note's terms were amended. In August 2011 the company lined up up to $2 million of convertible debentures from BG Capital Group, through its designee Look Back Investments. They carried 11% interest and converted at a 50% discount to market, and were secured against Borate Hills. In March 2012 the financing was restated with the conversion price fixed at $0.05 per share, and BG Capital's designee, Craig Thomas, held a board seat.
2012-2019: The sale falls through
On 11 June 2012 Trivest Pty Ltd walked away from its binding $9.5 million offer to buy the company's 60% interest in Borate Hills, ending a sale that could have transformed its finances. The record then falls quiet for years. On 14 November 2019 the company deregistered its securities, ending its obligation to file reports with the SEC.
Written from the 12 story beats below (2009 to 14 Nov 2019), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.