Nov 12

Here is a great interview on the Glenn Beck show regarding the future of gold.  If any of this comes to fruition, it’s time to jump on the gold bandwagon folks!!!!!

Jun 1

Below is a news wire regarding the Obama Administrations recent rush to promote the development of batteries sufficient for powering electric environmentally friendly cars.  These cars would be a push towards full electric thus would require a new era in battery technology.  Obviously minerals play a massive role in the development of such technology, especially Lithium.  Lithium is currently used in many small batteries powering PDA’s, Ipods, cell phones, hand held scanners, GPS units, and many other small application devices.  The current concern appears to be the ability to process Lithium in large quantities sufficient for powering a vehicle.  Mass production of Lithium Carbonate is considered to be environmentally unsound, thus plays against the whole “eco-friendly” automobile thing.  Furthermore it is very flammable so there would be a large concern regarding collision accidents.  

My question is what will this push by the Obama Administration do to the Lithium prices? Is in fact Lithium a mineral worthy of being put on the watch list? If an eco-friendly production process can be established, could we in fact see Lithium prices skyrocket? I can see great potential for this mineral, and the money the government is willing to dish out for someone to “break the mold” could really push Lithium to the forefront of larger powered applications.  

Any thoughts?

Corey Tolle 

25 May 2009 18:14 EDT WSJ(5/26) Obama Administration Sparks Battery Gold Rush

 
   (From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL) 
   By William M. Bulkeley

The Obama administration has set off a gold rush to power new environmentally friendly cars. 

In one of the government’s biggest efforts at shaping industrial policy, the Energy Department has been soliciting applications for $2.4 billion in funding aimed at turning the U.S. into a battery-manufacturing powerhouse. At the deadline last week, the department said it had received 165 applications. 

Companies vying for the federal money include General Motors Corp., Dow Chemical Co., Johnson Controls Inc. and A123 Systems, a closely held battery maker backed by General Electric Co. and others. States including Michigan, Kentucky and Massachusetts are also weighing in with applications, usually in alliance with their favored battery makers. 

When the winners are decided, as soon as the end of July, the Energy Department may anoint Livonia, Mich., or Indianapolis or Glendale, Ky., as the future U.S. hub of car batteries. A 2008 study by researchers at Alliance Bernstein forecast the current $9 billion-a-year auto-battery market, based on lead-acid batteries, could reach more than $150 billion by 2030. 

The companies and state governments are proposing sites for plants that will make lithium-ion batteries, the technology that has emerged as the leading choice to power future electric cars. 

The world-wide market for these types of power cells is now dominated by four big Japanese and Korean companies — including Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. — but their batteries are chiefly small ones used in laptops and cellphones. 

Car makers currently use another technology — nickel-metal-hydride batteries — in hybrid vehicles such as Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius because they aren’t as prone to fire as lithium-ion batteries are. 

Lithium-ion batteries are lighter and more powerful than lead or nickel-metal hydride batteries. Several American companies have demonstrated technological improvements that make big versions safe and practical for use in cars and trucks. 

While mass production of such batteries hasn’t been demonstrated, U.S. companies “seem close to building a facility and getting a product out there,” said Kent Furst, battery analyst for Freedonia Group, a market-research firm in Cleveland. 

States are desperate to attract manufacturing plants that would boost employment while reducing greenhouse gases. Some officials argue a big battery factory will attract or preserve job-heavy auto assembly plants. 

“If you’re the place where the batteries are made, there’s an opportunity to spin it into other things as well,” said D. Gregory Main, president of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., a state agency that has committed up to $400 million in incentives for battery manufacturers. 

Kentucky is promising $110 million in aid and a 1,550-acre site, in Glendale, that it assembled in an unsuccessful effort to land a Hyundai plant several years ago. 

“We’re not in that financial league,” said Ian Bowles, the Massachusetts secretary of energy and environmental affairs. But Mr. Bowles said Massachusetts has a chance of landing federal funding because it has several in-state battery makers such as Boston Power Co. 

Manufacturers are proposing to build four plants in Michigan that would require a total capital investment of $1.7 billion, though not all are likely to be funded. 

Among them is A123, a Massachusetts company that makes batteries in China for Black & Decker power tools. It wants to build a $600 million lithium-ion plant in Livonia, outside Detroit. A123, which recently raised $70 million from GE and other investors, declined comment. 

Meanwhile, Johnson Controls, the Wisconsin auto supplier that is currently the industry’s leading lead-acid battery supplier, has allied with Saft LLC, a French battery maker, with plans to build lithium batteries in an existing plant in Holland, Mich. 

In Kentucky, part of the proposed Glendale site will be occupied by the National Alliance for Advanced Transportation Batteries, a 51-company consortium, which plans a research campus with potential battery-making plants in the future. 

In Indiana, battery maker Ener1 Inc. has applied for a grant to expand a lithium car-battery plant it already operates in Indianapolis. The company has an agreement to supply batteries to closely held Fisker Automotive, a California company with plans to build and sell $88,000 luxury-hybrid cars.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires 

May 25, 2009 18:14 ET (22:14 GMT) 

Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

 

Apr 28

 

Well, it’s finally here.  After one-year of preparations, it all comes down to boring a series of small holes into the ground.  We have captured some great photos and will be sharing more in depth details once we have the final geological reports completed. Additionally, this is just the “ground-breaking” project for Arlan River and we are already preparing for the next project locations. Drilling will continue to commence around the clock, as “exploration” is the name of the game…  

Stay tuned, as there is much more to come.  Until then, check out the video posted in the “news” section of the Arlan River website. 

 

Corey Tolle

 

 

 

Drilling "Project Frisco"

Drilling "Project Frisco"

 

 

 

 

 

Apr 16

I came across this article in Time Magazine, regarding China’s buying frenzy for precious minerals, particularly copper.  It is worth checking out.  Time Magazine - China’s Buying Binge

Apr 16

I am a student of the mining and exploration industry, and how raw minerals impact the overall economy.  The purpose of this blog is for me to share with others that have similar interests, the things that I have learned about the exploration process, and how what we do impacts society.  I would also like to share thoughts with others regarding the topics I will be discussing in the future.  It is my thought that a blog is a great social interactive tool used to capture important information and share with others.

Everything, and I mean everything, starts with natural resources.  The food we eat, to products and services we engage, materials in manufacturing and construction, did I say everything?? The tools used to make this very blog a reality, would not be possible without minerals.  We as a company are exploring for these precious natural resources.  Arlan River’s mission is to cultivate the most benefit from the property, with the least disruption, in order to provide a mineral rich future essential to many emerging technologies including solar, mobile, and hybrid.  It is very exciting and a privilege to be at the forefront of finding these precious resources for societies use.  Additionally, it is equally exciting to watch an amazing opportunity unfold in an area overflowing with unusually high grade minerals, still barely realized and untouched by the outside world.  

We started down this path over one year ago and it has been a real process of discovery.  I don’t just mean looking for minerals, but developing a company, finding the best applications for technology in an industry that goes back centuries, while finding the best practices that haven’t changed.  As I learn new information, I want to capture it and share it with others.  This blog post is the beginning of many, and a tool that will inform its readers as to not only the progress of Arlan River, but the evolving mineral industry all around us.  I look forward to a lucrative year and the dialog to come.

Corey Tolle

Managing Member