A Canadian company making steady strides toward establishing a lithium extraction industry in south Arkansas passed another milestone this week, announcing approval to list its shares on the NYSE American exchange.
Standard Lithium Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia, which has declared its intent to be North America’s next source to the booming lithium-ion battery market, will list outstanding shares on the NYSE American market starting July 13. Its ticker symbol will be “SLI.” At that time, trading in Standard shares will halt on a previous exchange, the OTCQX over-the-counter market. Common shares will continue to trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the new ticker symbol “SLI” concurrent with the NYSE American listing.
Standard has opened the door to domestic lithium production by piggybacking on the well and pipeline infrastructure that project partner Lanxess Corp. has used for years to pull bromine from underground brine of the Smackover Foundation, once rich in oil fields.
The Vancouver startup has been extracting battery-grade lithium ingredients from the Smackover Foundation for more than a year at a test plant that uses a proprietary technology to draw lithium from the saltwater.
Another test plant in British Columbia has been refining the Arkansas lithium chloride into lithium carbonate, a key ingredient for battery-making. That plant was scheduled to be moved to El Dorado to connect with the extraction plant, but COVID-related border shutdowns have delayed those plans.
The site in El Dorado is ready, Mintak told Arkansas Business last month in an interview from Vancouver. But recent upticks in Arkansas COVID cases could push back the schedule again.
Standard’s effort toward proof-of-concept for commercial lithium extraction, however, has proceeded apace, under a model that uses far less water and takes a reduced environmental toll compared with current methods that allow brines to slowly dry in vast evaporation ponds.
“We are pleased to announce and privileged to receive approval for Standard Lithium to be listed on the NYSE American,” CEO Robert Mintak said in a statement. “This is a significant achievement for the company. We believe the listing will greatly enhance Standard Lithium’s profile with U.S. capital markets, increasing exposure to a larger and more diverse group of institutional and retail investors. It is also important to highlight that we achieved this milestone without a share consolidation.”
Andy Robinson, a scientist who is president and chief operating officer, shared Mintak’s enthusiasm. “This is an important step up for Standard Lithium. Our team is working hard to become the next lithium producer in the United States while also demonstrating that with the right approach, extraction and sustainability are not exclusive of each other.”
Existing shareholders of the company will not be required to take any action in connection with the market listings. Shareholders trading on the existing OTCQB platform will be able to trade on the NYSE American when the listing is complete.
Just last month, Lanxess, of Cologne, Germany, chose to convert a $3.75 million loan it had advanced to Standard Lithium into stock in the startup.
The arrangement gave Lanxess 6.25 million common shares and 3.1 million share purchase warrants at a specific price through June 2024.
Each warrant can be exercised for a share in Standard at a price of $1.20 in Canadian currency, about $1 U.S. at current exchange rates.
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