Ex-Merrill Canada exec joins American Lithium
Posted on September 29, 2009 at 12:34 PM
Hugh Aird, former vice chairman of Merrill Lynch Canada, will head up merger and acquisition pursuits for American Lithium Minerals Inc., which has 100% mineral rights to 16,000 acres in Nevada's lithium-rich Montezuma Valley.
Aird has also worked as vice chair for North America at Edelman Public Relations, director of business development of Blackmont Capital, senior relationship manager at Morgan Stanley Canada and VP of biz dev at Mulvihill Capital Management Inc.
Aird joins the small mining company at a time the subject of lithium is frequenting business news desks.
Lithium is used to power general consumer products, but automakers forging into hybrid and electric vehicle production have given it more Street cred. Lithium is used in the batteries that would power these vehicles and companies in the lithium food chain are benefiting from big bets on the industry -- just look at the IPO of li-ion battery maker A123Systems Inc. (NYSE:AONE). The company priced over its range, and its market cap is around $1.9 billion.
Besides looking for deals, it seems to me that American Lithium could be a decent acquisition target because of its stakes in Nevada. Or perhaps a strategic alliance is in order? Energy and metals exploration company Black Hawk Exploration just formed a Nevada subsidiary, Blue Lithium Energy Inc. It will initially acquire, explore and develop a portfolio of strategic lithium properties in the U.S. and Canada with plans for future global expansion.
The reserves in Nevada are huge, but not as big as in Bolivia and Chile, countries that foreigners may have a tough time buying into. Chile is home of the world's largest lithium carbonate producer, Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile SA (NYSE:SQM). Bolivia is pretty much the Saudi Arabia of lithium, holding about 50% of the world's reserves. - Baz Hiralal
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