The Rise And Rise Of NEMASKA LITHIUM COM NPV (OTCMKTS:NMKEF)

The continued increase in demand for lithium has a few winners.US Geological Survey (USGS) recently released data showing that the world's top lithium-producing countries are currently in high gear to meet that growing demand.The lithium mining sector shows no signs of slowing down and is being predicted to grow at a steady pace driven by the use of lithium compounds in manufacturing high-performance lithium-ion batteries allowing global companies to ramp up production and mining efforts.One of those winners is NEMASKA LITHIUM COM NPV (OTCMKTS:NMKEF). Take a look at the company’s price movement: NMKEF Daily ChartNemaska Lithium intends to become a lithium hydroxide supplier and lithium carbonate supplier to the emerging lithium battery market that is largely driven by electric vehicles, cell phones, tablets and other consumer products. The Corporation is developing in Quebec one of the most important spodumene lithium hard rock deposit in the world, both in volume and grade.The spodumene concentrate produced at Nemaska Lithium's (Whabouchi) mines will be shipped to the Corporation's lithium compounds processing plant to be built in Shawinigan, Quebec. This plant will transform spodumene concentrate into high purity lithium hydroxide and carbonate using the proprietary methods developed by the Corporation, and for which patent applications have been filed.Brief OverviewFor our readers who are just coming across Nemaska Lithium Inc for the first time, here is a brief profile of the company.Nemaska Lithium Inc. was established in 2007 and is domiciled in Canada and incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act along with its subsidiaries. The company is currently developing one of the richest spodumene hard rock lithium deposits in the world, both in volume and grade.Its shares were listed on the TSX Venture Stock Exchange up until July 7, 2016 and are now listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol NMX since July 8, 2016 and on OTCQX under the symbol NMKEF. The firm incorporated 2 wholly owned subsidiaries on March 16, 2016, which are Nemaska Lithium Shawinigan Transformation Inc. and Nemaska Lithium P1P Inc. Nemaska Lithium Whabouchi Mine Inc. was later formed in July 2016Recent DevelopmentsOn June 14th, current CEO Guy Bourassa described his team’s plans to make it a world first in using a proprietary, patent-pending electrolysis process to transform spodumene concentrate into high purity lithium hydroxide and carbonate. He explained that Nemaska believes it will be the lowest cost producer of lithium products in the world. He was quoted as saying:

“If Nemaska can successfully execute their phase one plant project and produce lithium hydroxide from their innovative electrolytic process, they are well positioned for long term success. Major hydroxide customers like Panasonic (for Tesla) and Nemaska’s strategic partner in Quebec (Johnson Matthey) are anxious to see new technology with a lower cost structure implemented.”Source

According to Nemaska’s web site:

“We (The company) will take a 6 per cent spodumene concentrate (produced from a hard rock lithium mine) and process it into a lithium sulfate. After several stages of impurity removals, the lithium sulfate solution is transformed through electrolysis into a high-purity liquid lithium hydroxide.”Source

In the case of lithium hydroxide, which is the most valuable battery-grade lithium ingredient, the process means Nemaska is well positioned to sell most, if not all, of its output. The plan is that lithium mining will begin in 2018.Earlier in the year, Nemaska released the diamond drilling results from the 2017 drill program at its 100%-owned Whabouchi lithium mine project. The 4,361-metre drill program combined definition drilling to a depth of 50 metres in the ''Five Year Starter Pit" and expansion drilling in the Doris zone located immediately to the South West of the main Whabouchi deposit. It was reported that roughly half of the infill drill holes reported significant widths and grades above 1.5%. This result happened to be consistent with results from a bulk sample taken from another end of the pit shell which had had an average grade of 1.7% Lithium Oxide.Management viewed the results positively, stating that it was a good sign for the mine start-up in a period where project economics have a high influence on payback of returns on capital. It also signified that materials previously discarded as waste rock are now ores containing particles of Lithium.Financial StrengthWithin the last year, Nemaska received proceeds of $123.0 million from the issuance of shares, revealing that market perception of the business is quite positive despite the lack of revenues in the last few years.The change in assets between June 2016 and 2017 reflects the aggressive expansion strategy adopted by Nemaska Lithium. Current assets increased from $21.0 million to $81.0 million reflecting that the company has adequate cash to invest in other opportunities, while non-current assets increased from $43.0 million to $121.0 million leading to a year on year asset increase of 220% within one year.This massive asset acquisition shows the position of Nemeska Lithium has chosen in the demand boom. Indications show that it is likely that the firm will become a major player in this market.ConclusionNemaska Lithium Inc. is strategically positioned to become a major player in the large market for lithium. The stock has been a big runner for our subscribers ever since we covered the company in July. It is highly expected that its value will continue to rise for a while yet.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on NMKEF, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in NMKEF and have not been compensated for this article.