Snow Lake Resources files motion in the Manitoba courts

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This article was published 22/07/2022 (1142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Snow Lake Resources has filed a motion in the Manitoba courts to have a request by a small group of “concerned shareholders” to hold a special meeting to appoint a new group of directors thrown out of court.

The company, which does business as Snow Lake Lithium, is looking to develop a lithium mine near Snow Lake.

It is not clear yet why the shareholders — who hold a total of 5.4 per cent of the company shares — have made this request.

The group includes Avrohom Mordechai (Avi) Kimelman, of Australia, a former director of the company and former CEO and director of Quantum Resources, which later changed its name to Nova Minerals Ltd.

Snow Lake Resources was spun out of Nova in an initial public offering in November 2021, raising $27.6 million at prices of $7.50 per share. Shares were trading around $2.64 on Thursday.

Nova Minerals continues to hold 37 per cent of Snow Lake.

Snow Lake Lithium CEO Phillip Gross, who also was named chairman of the board in June after the resignation of the previous chair, discounted the importance of this shareholder’s request.

“This is a nuisance and a distraction,” said Gross. “The real focus is building the business.”

In November, Kimelman was convicted of insider trading and market manipulation in Australia.

According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission he is automatically disqualified from managing corporations for five years from the date of conviction.

Based on its latest data, Snow Lake Lithium, could produce 160,000 tonnes per year of six per cent lithium concentrate over an eight to 10-year period.

Lithium is a key component in the manufacture of batteries and with the dramatic increase in electric vehicles productions, demand for the commodity is increasingly dramatically, expected to double by 2024 and increase by another 58 per cent by 2030.

Snow Lake Lithium is looking to build the world’s first all-electric mine near Snow Lake. As well, company officials are speaking with potential partners in the hopes of building a lithium processing facility in Manitoba, with the CentrePort Rail Park an early leader as a potential site.

By 2030 the demand for lithium will hit 1,500 metric tonnes. Less than 0.5 per cent of global lithium production comes from Canada. (The Tanco Mine near Bernic Lake in eastern Manitoba produces a small amount of lithium).

In its filings, Snow Lake has said the request for a special meeting is invalid under Manitoba’s Corporations Act as an annual general meeting and special meeting of the shareholders of the company has already been called by the board for Dec. 15, 2022.

The “concerned shareholders” are requesting the removal all of the directors of the company; fixing the number of directors at six for the ensuing year; and electing six nominee directors of the concerned shareholders.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca