• Sub-Saharan Africa is last unexplored hydrocarbon frontier
• Region comprises an area larger than India, China and the U.S. combined
• Aziza owns $100 million stake in Namibian hydrocarbon project

Pioneering outfit Aziza Project LLC is boldly going where few have gone before by investing in oil and gas businesses operating in sub-Saharan Africa, a vast underdeveloped sector of the hydrocarbon cosmos. At stake are claims in Namibia valued at $100 million. Its investment approach is also crossing frontiers, as Aziza is hosting a tokenized investment fund. It plans to raise $60 million in capital through the sale of Aziza Coins, an asset-backed security token compliant with the Ethereum blockchain ERC20 standard.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the last unexplored frontier in the hydrocarbon world. It is a region of promise, if for no other reason than its size. In total, the area covers roughly 27 million square kilometers, or 10 million square miles (http://ibn.fm/LUBBg), and it includes those African countries south of the Sahara. This is a landmass larger than the U.S. (3.8 million square miles), China (3.7 million sq. mi.) and India (1.3 million sq. mi.) put together. Despite its immensity, political and military turmoil have kept investment in the region by oil and gas explorers down to a minimum. Sub-Saharan Africa’s oil production is a mere seven percent of world output, and even the region’s top producers are minor players on the global stage. Nigeria accounts for around three percent of global oil output, while Angola produces about 2.5 percent. The rest of Sub-Saharan oil production comes from around a dozen or so countries, including South Africa, which contribute less than two percent of global supply.

Natural gas from sub-Saharan Africa is even less of a factor in global supply. In 2014, the region accounted for a mere 3.19 percent of global output, most of which (2.74 percent) came from Nigeria. However, large finds like the 160 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas discovered in the Rovuma Offshore Basin of Mozambique over the past decade signal that, in natural gas at least, there is more to the region than meets the eye.

The Aziza Project is venturing into this vast uncharted territory. It owns one-fifth of Africa New Energies (“ANE”), which has concessions from the government of Namibia to explore for hydrocarbons offshore. To commence its drilling program, the Aziza Project is out to raise funds through the sale of Aziza Coins. The tokens represent an indirect fractional ownership interest in the Aziza Project, meriting, perhaps, the term “digital shares.” Aziza Coin holders, in effect, will own part of the Aziza Project and will become economic beneficiaries, able to share in any of the profits made by the organization.

ANE was founded in November 2012 to take up an offer from the Namibian government to search for natural gas and other hydrocarbons. The company initiated an exploration program that utilized a variety of innovative, non-industry standard exploration techniques. ANE developed an algorithm that analyzed multiple layers of data gathered from satellite, light aircraft and ground surveys, for example. The techniques and data have since been back-tested on thousands of proven wells around the world, with promising results. The company believes that the back-testing and integration of several layers of data has substantially improved the probability of drilling success while reducing costs to around 10 percent of industry standard methods. Search costs have also been reduced by enlisting the help of local communities, who report natural spillages of petroleum.

This approach has yielded 32 potential oil and gas fields, with potentially billions of barrels of oil equivalent (BOE). As a result, ANE has applied for (and been awarded) further concessions on some of the most advantageous terms that industry experts have seen in 40 years. Based on a recent unsolicited offer, interest in the ANE claims are valued at $100 million.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Aziza.io

• TransCanna Holdings, through affiliate TCM Distribution Inc. (“TCMD”), has secured local licenses in Adelanto, California, and recently received a California temporary distribution license
• The company closed an IPO funding share sale on January 8 to bring in aggregate gross proceeds of C$2.2 million
• TransCanna’s affiliate, TCMD, is leasing a small permitted facility and negotiating with its landlord to lease a new 20,000 sq. ft. facility when construction is completed
• TransCanna received approval to commence trading on the Frankfurt Exchange using ticker symbol ‘TH8’

TransCanna Holdings Inc. (CSE: TCAN) recently completed its initial public offering (“IPO”) of 4.4 million units at a price of C$0.50 per unit, for total gross proceeds of C$2.2 million. The funds are expected to help finance the company’s entry into California’s cannabis transportation and branding market.

Each unit sold in the IPO consisted of one common share of the company and one share purchase warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of C$1.00 per warrant share for a period ending one year from the date of issuance. The company may accelerate the expiration date of the warrants if the daily volume-weighted average share price of the its common shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (or such other exchange on which the company’s common shares are then trading) is equal to or greater than C$1.50 for 10 consecutive trading days, according to a news release about the completion of the IPO (http://ibn.fm/Rtt2t). The funds will be used to fund the company’s general working capital for the next 12 months according to a prospectus filed on SEDAR in December (http://ibn.fm/o8JBt).

On January 18, the company was approved to commence trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under ticker symbol ‘TH8’.

The British Columbia, Canada-based company was incorporated in October 2017 and expects its principal business to be the provision of branding, transportation, distribution, logistics and fulfillment services to the medical and adult-use cannabis industry in California — an emerging market space that it intends to manage through wholly owned California subsidiaries GF Group Inc. (“GF”) and TransCanna Management Inc. (“TCMI”). TCMI manages TCMD, an affiliate of the company.

California is among nine states and the District of Columbia that have legalized recreational marijuana use in the United States, creating the potential for TransCanna’s expansion beyond California at some future point. For now, however, the company is focused on creating and growing its enterprise in California.

Transporting cannabis products in California remains challenging in the months following full legalization because of a patchwork variety of local and state regulations. Companies regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation are barred from transporting the material, because cannabis sales remain illegal under federal law.

“Cannabis distribution and transportation is a relatively new sector of the overall cannabis industry in California, as a result of the state of California regulating all cannabis related activities effective January 1, 2018,” the prospectus reads. “There are various types of licenses issued by the state of California in the cannabis industry, of which TCMD is applying for a cannabis distributor and transportation license. Currently there is a limited pool of distribution and transportation companies operating in this area.”

TCMD has already entered into three exclusive distribution agreements with licensed operators on the condition that the company gets all the necessary distribution and transportation licenses and California state permits.

Owing to the potential appeal of transportation operations to criminal elements, TCMD is preparing to undertake security measures for its transports, including the establishment of full-time monitoring of its facilities under contract with an independent security firm, GPS tracking of vehicles and state-of-the-art communications and video equipment to facilitate the alerting of authorities if any such problems arise. Personnel will also be screened using an extensive vetting process, according to the company prospectus.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.TransCanna.com

• Piedmont Lithium is developing spodumene and lithium hydroxide facilities in North Carolina
• The company’s Piedmont Lithium Project is within the Carolina Tin-Spodumene belt
• The lithium market continues to experience considerable growth

Piedmont Lithium Ltd. (NASDAQ: PLL) is focusing on becoming a strategic domestic supplier of lithium to the growing U.S. electric vehicle and battery storage markets. With its 100 percent-owned Piedmont Lithium Project, the company is developing spodumene and lithium hydroxide facilities in North Carolina. A specialty chemical company, Piedmont Lithium is headquartered in New York City.

The lithium market is poised for significant growth. Energy and Capital notes in its ‘Special Report: Lithium Investment Outlook 2019’ (http://ibn.fm/0rB7j) that, “…even though the EV business has grown significantly over the past several years, the market is just now prepared to really take off. Global electric vehicle production is expected to increase by more than 30x in the next 15 years alone! And as a result, lithium demand is expected to follow.”

Piedmont Lithium is positioned to leverage this demand and provide investors the opportunity to earn potential significant return on investment (ROI) from this trend. Its Piedmont Lithium Project is within the world-class Carolina Tin-Spodumene belt and along trend to the Hallman Beam and Kings Mountain mines. The company’s North Carolina facilities will provide a low capex/low opex, high IRR/NPV sustainable U.S.-based source of the fastest-growing lithium-battery-critical mineral.

Piedmont Lithium’s emphasis is on fast tracking the Piedmont Lithium Project toward production as a fully-integrated domestic source of lithium. A first mover in restarting exploration in an historic lithium producing region, the company recently announced that it boosted its exploration land position, bringing it to a total of 1,383 acres.

In a news release, Piedmont Lithium President and Chief Executive Officer Keith Phillips, said, “We continue to pursue our strategy of adding to our dominant land position in the Carolina Tin-Spodumene Belt (TSB). We have found high-grade mineralization in over 90 percent of the holes we’ve drilled on the TSB, and our expectation is that the larger our land position the larger our ultimate resource and mine life will be.”

The Piedmont Lithium Project lies in the Inner Piedmont belt next to the Kings Mountain shear zone. The company may potentially begin mining at the site in early 2020 (http://ibn.fm/zszlI). Piedmont’s aim is to restore the Kings Mountain region to its prominence in lithium mining.

Piedmont Lithium has established the presence of four major, high grade lithium corridors on the project. It accomplished this with the completion of a Phase 1 drill program, together with the historical drill program and exploration campaigns (http://ibn.fm/tqrFX). Howard Klein, a strategic adviser for the company, noted that the proposed mines and lithium processing plant in the area would bring some of the least costly lithium to the market as early as 2023.

With a leadership team boasting a track record of successful mining ventures, Piedmont Lithium is on course for sustained growth. The company is actively and assertively adding further options to expand its presence in the Carolina Tin-Spodumene region. The future is now for Piedmont’s strategic initiatives as the company works to become the leading domestic supplier of lithium.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.PiedmontLithium.com

• The company secured the number one market position in the California edibles market, becoming the state’s most successful seller of cannabis-infused edibles
• Plus Products acquired cannabis-infused baked goods brand GOOD CO-OP, merging like-minded attitudes about product quality and ingredient authenticity
• The company oversees over 16,000 square feet of manufacturing space in order to meet the demand for its products

Plus Products Inc. (CSE: PLUS), the leading cannabis edibles brand in California, increased its edibles market position from number four in Q2 of 2018 to number one in Q3, according to data released from BDS Analytics. This marks (http://ibn.fm/y3u33) the company as the number one best-selling cannabis-infused edibles brand in California, “the largest and most competitive cannabis market in the world.”

Cannabis-infused food and drink has been a growing sector of the marijuana industry, particularly in California, as legalization legislation has moved slowly through both the country and the world. In 2017, consumers in the Golden State purchased $180 million worth of cannabis-infused food and drink (10 percent of the state’s total marijuana sales). That percentage grew to 18 percent in February 2018, and, with the increasing quality and innovation seen with baked good edibles, that figure is likely to rise in 2019.

One strategic element of Plus’s rise to the top of the industry relates to its acquisition of cannabis-infused baked goods brand GOOD CO-OP, a smaller company which has been featured in Fortune and Vice magazines, among others. GOOD CO-OP (www.GOOD-COOP.com) pledges transparency in its ingredients list, using whole grain organic flour, 72 percent cacao chocolate, and “cannabutter… straight from Humboldt County.”

The Plus team saw in GOOD CO-OP the same guiding principles that helped it attain the top market position: an intense focus on quality product that would win over customer loyalty and enlarge its growing client base. In a news release, Jake Heimark, co-founder and CEO of Plus, noted (http://ibn.fm/3pjcf), “We have focused on manufacturing consistent, high quality edibles that resonate with customers… [t]he GOOD team has been focused on the same.” Plus itself offers over 40 years of experience in food manufacturing and makes all of its edible products from scratch, using carefully sourced, high-quality, kosher ingredients. Its team includes Michelin-star chefs, Ivy League chemists and food manufacturing experts, among others.

As the largest and most prominent edibles brand in California, the company has been focused on taking the lead in the largest edibles category – gummies. In this vein, Plus maintains a 12,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Southern California, and it has also secured an extra 4,800 square feet of manufacturing space and equipment in Northern California, maximizing its market penetration potential.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.PlusProducts.com

• China has a centuries-old tradition of promoting herbs and other earthy, natural health remedies
• The village of Bama in China’s southern region has gained renown for the percentage of centenarians amid its population, and as the source of hemp rice wine
• ChineseInvestors.com recently announced the launch of a branded Hemp Wine product by its cannabis industry subsidiary, CBD Biotech
• The Hemp Wine launch in collaboration with tourism-friendly Bama’s Institute of Longevity of the Elderly is taking place amid preparations for Chinese New Year festivals

Chinese-language investment news outlet ChineseInvestors.com Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) is launching its first self-branded rice wine alcohol product, Hemp Wine, under the auspices of its wholly owned cannabis industry subsidiary, CBD Biotechnology Co. Ltd., less than a month before the advent of Chinese New Year, which will mark the commencement of the “Year of the Pig.” In Chinese culture, pigs (http://ibn.fm/gWUJE) are the symbol of wealth, and the elemental cycle of Earth that will occur with the new year portends a season of “social butterflies with friends from all walks of life” who “have fortunate lives and can find happiness” – certainly a cause for celebration.

“This launch coincides with the upcoming Chinese New Year, a holiday surrounded by celebrations and gifting, setting the stage for the Hemp Wine gift sets to be a huge success,” CBD Biotech CEO Summer Yun stated in a January 16 news release announcing the new product (http://ibn.fm/F4n26).

CIIX’s subsidiary is drawing on centuries of Chinese herbal health heritage in collaborating with The Institute of Longevity of the Elderly in Bama, a village in the south China autonomous region of Guangxi, for the official product launch. Hemp rice wine originated in Bama historically, and Yun stated that Bama is often referred to as the “longevity capital of China” and is “one of the world’s five longevity towns” in terms of the percentage of centenarians among its population, which has made the village an attraction for health-conscious tourists (http://ibn.fm/RWExv).

CBD Biotech will begin offering Hemp Wine gift sets offline immediately, with an official online sales launch to follow in the near future, according to the news release. Hemp Wine joins the company’s leading alcoholic product — a baijiu grain liquor called Wuliangye Nafu.

“Over the past year, CBD Biotech has put many drivers in place for future growth,” CBD Biotech CFO Alex Hamilton stated in a news release. “We are excited about the progress that CBD Biotech has made in China with our hemp product offerings, beginning with our industrial hemp-infused CBD skincare line, and now including our newly launched hemp rice wine beverage.”

ChineseInvestors.com continues to move closer to spinning off the growing company to create an independent cannabis industry channel – a move that’s aimed at allowing CIIX to refocus its attention on its core financial services and media business.

ChineseInvestors.com is a financial information online service for Chinese-speaking investors throughout the United States, Canada and China, and the development of new product lines such as Hemp Wine constitute a small part of a much larger, globally-focused business plan. The company generates real-time market commentary, analysis and education-related services in both traditional and simplified Chinese language character sets, and it provides advertising and public relations-related support services for its clients.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ChineseInvestors.com

• KNR aims to be an industry leading provider of energy efficiency and emission compliance solutions by utilizing IoT, Cloud and SaaS technology to reduce energy costs; it recently completed IP and patent purchases from Dimax Controls Canada, Inc.
• KNR offers cannabis infrastructure solutions and has received contracts with licensed producers (LPs) to provide energy efficiency tech that cuts greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• KNR, through a subsidiary, will provide emission compliance services to a cannabis company in Ontario, Canada
• The company has now applied for listing on the OTCQB Venture Market

Kontrol Energy Corp. (CSE: KNR) (FSE: 1K8) is following its strategic growth plan by applying for a OTCQB Venture Market listing, which it believes will make it easier to attract more institutional and retail investors and offer ease of trading in the company’s common shares (http://ibn.fm/JdekO).

In a news release, Paul Ghezzi, CEO of Kontrol Energy, said, “Currently we have an office in New York City and approximately 20% of the company’s consolidated revenues are generated in the U.S. With the company now on a $16 million revenue run rate, it is an opportune time to provide U.S. investors with a platform to more easily invest in Kontrol’s common shares.”

Kontrol Energy is an Ontario, Canada-based innovator in the energy efficiency sector, offering clients market-based energy solutions to reduce energy costs and cut GHG emissions. It achieves this by applying disruptive and integrated technologies. In its corporate presentation, Kontrol Energy projects that it is on track to be cash flow positive in the first half of 2019 (http://ibn.fm/Bvyk2).

Kontrol Energy continues to grow, as its subsidiary, ORTECH Consulting Inc., has been engaged to offer emission and odor compliance services to a cannabis company in Ontario, Canada. Ghezzi said, “As we continue to share our energy and emission services to the cannabis market, we continue to gain new customer wins.” He noted that the client is not named for competitive reasons (http://ibn.fm/9t1c4).

Another segment of Kontrol Energy’s strategy is growth through strategic, accretive acquisitions. Kontrol Energy, through an asset purchase, recently acquired the IP and patents of Dimax Controls Canada Inc., and it has rebranded the energy software technology as Kontrol SmartSite (http://ibn.fm/Lpj6e).

In April 2018, Kontrol Energy bought the operating assets of MCW Dimax Ltd. Now, it has purchased the IP formerly licensed to that company, which includes two U.S. patents and one Canadian patent. Ghezzi added, “The Kontrol SmartSite technology now joins Kontrol SmartSuite in our growing portfolio of IOT enabled energy and property technologies.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.KontrolEnergy.com

• The Aziza Project holds 20 percent stake currently worth an estimated $100 million in Africa New Energies (ANE)
• ANE holds a petroleum exploration license or concession on Namibia’s eastern border
• World-scale oil and gas deposit in licensed area with potential 1.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent resource estimated at $3.1 billion
• Aziza Project seeks to raise a $60 million oil and gas fund with Aziza Coin, an asset-backed security token

The outlook for oil and gas exploration producers in Africa is an increasingly positive one following a wave of optimism and investor confidence that swept through 2018, as an article published in Africa Oil & Power states (http://ibn.fm/3dclX). The Aziza Project LLC and its asset-backed security token, the Aziza Coin, anticipate the same positive energy for 2019, and the company is focused on investing in early-stage oil and gas exploration businesses operating throughout southern Africa. The Aziza Coin is secured with the company’s first asset – a 20 percent interest currently worth an estimated $100 million in Africa New Energies (“ANE”), Aziza Project CEO Robert Pyke explained in a NetworkNewsAudio interview (http://ibn.fm/K0Qku).

Aziza’s focus on southern Africa is driven by the company’s view of the region as largely untapped and unexplored due to disinvestment during the apartheid era. ANE, an exploration company which holds rights to a 22,000-square-kilometer prospective hydrocarbon concession in Namibia, in 2017 rejected an unsolicited bid for $500 million. This potentially world-scale oil and gas deposit in eastern Namibia, bordering Botswana and the Kalahari Desert, could transform the region’s energy supply and provide a powerful boost to growth in Namibia. By using big data algorithms, the ANE project will be developed at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods.

In its annual Africa Oil & Gas Review, released in November 2018, PwC said that Africa offers plenty of opportunities in the form of unexplored hydrocarbon demand fueled by population growth, urbanization and the emergence of a growing middle class (http://ibn.fm/l45cV). By June 2018, more than $110 billion in global oil and gas projects had been approved since 2017 — a more than 100 percent increase from 2016, when only $50 billion in new spending was announced, according to Rystad Energy, an independent energy consulting services and business intelligence data firm. New drilling for 2019 is also on a positive trend, with 15 high impact wells already planned from the 15-month period from November 2018 through 2019 throughout Africa.

While much of the mainstream oil and gas industry remains focused on the offshore sector, ANE is exploring an onshore concession that potentially holds a 1.6 billion-barrel oil equivalent resource estimated at $3.1 billion. Namibia’s potential for accelerated growth is tied to its abundant mineral resource base, which includes the vast concession that Aziza and ANE have explored for the past five years (http://ibn.fm/oVn8V). ANE is still awaiting the results of a test bore conducted in September to help locate the presence of sub-surface water, along with evidence of any hydrocarbons in the region.

The Aziza Project is in the process of raising $60 million, with $45 million earmarked for a 10-well drilling program at the site that could begin near the end of 2019.

“We are very bullish on the Southern Africa onshore oil and gas prospects. We eagerly await the test bore results and are hoping this will further confirm what ANE’s 17 layers of exploration data is suggesting is underground on the concession. A positive result will unlock Namibian and Southern Africa onshore oil and gas,” Pyke said in a news release (http://ibn.fm/fCYtn).

As institutional investors abandon their skepticism to “embrace their inner crypto,” Aziza sees the path forward as a bright one.

“Institutional investors such as hedge funds, endowments and family offices may be using the backdoor to tap the crypto sector, but the more prevalent such practices become, the greater the pressure will be to become transparent about their crypto holdings, thereby helping to boost the credentials of crypto assets generally. And for those in the security token space, this is particularly encouraging,” Pyke concluded (http://ibn.fm/LxA0S).

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Aziza.io

• LXRP’s subsidiary, Lexaria Nicotine LLC, enters definitive investment agreement with Altria Ventures Inc.; Altria to fund R&D, receive license rights and equity
• Altria will fund research on LXRP’s DehydraTECH oral nicotine products, pay sales royalties and may fund up to $12 million more through a series of private financings
• LXRP has not sold or optioned its own equity and still retains majority equity ownership of Lexaria Nicotine, LLC; Altria would receive minority equity interest in the subsidiary

Lexaria Bioscience Corp.’s (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) wholly owned subsidiary, Lexaria Nicotine LLC, has entered a definitive investment agreement with Altria Group Inc.’s (NYSE: MO) Altria Ventures Inc. subsidiary for a partnership. Altria will initially fund $1 million toward LXRP’s R&D on nicotine consumer products using DehydraTECH (http://ibn.fm/NHUIX).

Altria will also have the option to provide up to $12 million in additional research monies to underwrite LXRP’s R&D through multiple phased private financings. In exchange, Altria’s indirect wholly owned subsidiary will receive certain license rights to oral, reduced risk nicotine consumer products that use DehydraTECH technology. The license for Altria to commercialize these products will be exclusive in the U.S. and non-exclusive elsewhere globally. Altria will pay an ongoing royalty on all products sold that use Lexaria’s technology.

Based in British Columbia, Canada, LXRP is a biotechnology company and drug delivery platform innovator that out-licenses its disruptive delivery technology that promotes healthier ingestion methods. LXRP holds a patent for oral delivery of all cannabinoids and has a growing IP portfolio which includes 10 patents granted in the U.S. and Australia. DehydraTECH is its proprietary absorption technology platform.

Lexaria Nicotine plans to conduct a series of clinical investigations into oral forms of nicotine delivery using DehydraTECH technology.

In a news release, Chris Bunka, CEO of LXRP, said, “This partnership will provide significant benefits to Lexaria Bioscience and its shareholders with a world-class R&D program and regulatory compliance process.”

Per the terms of the agreement, Altria will have the option to buy 100 percent ownership of LXRP’s subsidiary at then-current fair market value, but no equity in LXRP itself. Altria will also have the right to appoint one of the seven directors of LXRP. As the phased additional investments are made, Altria will then have the right to appoint up to three directors.

Altria’s wholly owned subsidiaries include Philip Morris USA Inc., and it holds an equity investment in Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaBioscience.com

• Net Element was recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in North America, according to Deloitte’s 2017 Fast 500
• The company employs a multi-strand approach to staying abreast of the competition in the transactional services industry
• Offering many products and services to industries, including CBD oil, point-of-sale systems and blockchain technology, Net Element maintains its versatility and relevance in multiple markets

Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE), a global technology-driven group which specializes in mobile payments and value-added transactional services, has emerged as a leader in the transactional services industry. It continues to evolve and is powered by its central mission: to set the standard for omni-channel payment acceptance and value-added service offerings with an emphasis on creating a unified global transaction acceptance ecosystem.

With millions of mobile payment users in emerging markets, many companies are striving to stay competitive in the burgeoning transactional services industry. To remain a leading competitor, Net Element has employed a multi-pronged strategy. First, it continually invests in the company’s core technology and product offerings. Second, it allocates resources and expertise in order to grow through commercial and product offerings. The company has also made strategic acquisitions, complementing its core strategy. Finally, Net Element continues to focus on sustained improvement and operational excellence in order to maximize returns for its investors.

Specifically, one of Net Element’s featured products and services is called Aptito, and it offers an all-in-one iOS cloud-based restaurant management and payment acceptance solution. Its menus and kiosks are offered on the iPad, are easy to customize and seamlessly integrate with the company’s EMV-compliant point-of-sale system and iPhone application. Customers can appreciate an ease of functionality, as well as the ability to manage their restaurants remotely, maximizing their profitability.

Net Element was rated as one of the fastest-growing companies in North America on Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast 500, as well as South Florida Business Journal’s 2016 fastest-growing technology companies. Moreover, it is ranked number 418 on Deloitte’s 2017 Technology Fast 500, the list of North America’s 500 fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences and energy technology companies. This acclaim is hard-fought and well-deserved. In a news release, Sandra Shirai, vice chairman of Deloitte Consulting LLP, said (http://ibn.fm/OfuVV), “[These] winners underscore the impact of technological innovation and world class customer service in driving growth, in a fiercely competitive environment.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.NetElement.com

• QMC Quantum Minerals is preparing for Phase 2 exploration on its spodumene-bearing Irgon Mine Project
• QMC is nearing completion of NI 43-101 resource estimate to update published historic resource estimate
• Company expects to improve on the historic estimate of more than 1.2 million tons of lithium

QMC Quantum Minerals Corp. (OTC: QMCQF) (TSX.V: QMC) (FSE: 3LQ) is exploring a historically productive region in hopes that the ore it may yield will be adequate to help drive an industry that has found new life amid the computer and internet breakthroughs of the 21st Century. The region, which is in Southern Manitoba’s rare-element pegmatite mining district located 500 kilometers (310 miles) northwest of Lake Superior, has been established as a potential source of commercial-grade lithium resources with the capacity to energize North America’s computerized products.

QMC’s Irgon Mine Property in southeastern Manitoba has a half-century-old historical resource estimate of 1.2 million tons of lithium oxide grading 1.51 percent measured over a strike length of 365 meters and to a depth of 213 meters. The company expects to produce a current NI 43-101-compatible resource estimate during the coming months that could potentially double the strike length by extending it as far as 400 meters to the west. QMC will also define spodumene mineralization to depth below 213 meters, the current maximum depth explored by the historic drilling.

North American hard rock miners reigned over the lithium supply in the pre-Internet of Things era leading into the 1980s, turning the mineral spodumene into a virtual lithium lodestone that supplied the soft metal for medicinal anti-psychotic purposes, ceramics and lubricants. Just as computer batteries have surpassed those uses in the past couple of decades, a revving drive for electric vehicles, more eco-friendly than their petroleum-fueled counterparts, is building a new benchmark for demand and a revival of the rock mining industry that was forced to yield ground to the new, cheaper saltwater evaporation extraction methods of the late 20th century.

Companies such as QMC are invested in the premise that hard rock mining for lithium is ultimately more reliable than brine evaporation pond extraction. The demand for lithium will continue to increase as electric vehicles and portable Internet of Things electronics become more of a standard part of everyday living. In 2018, sales of electric vehicles surged ahead of those in 2017, rising about 70 percent. Likewise, rising demand for lithium hydroxide, a key element in lithium-ion batteries, was largely satiated from new hard rock mineral extraction in Australia (http://ibn.fm/vYJ7Z).

Manitoba’s long economic dependence on mining and the slow market conditions have created ample personnel resources as well, as shown most recently by the imperilment of 800 jobs in the northern Flin Flon district when a zinc refining company announced that it will close its operation (http://ibn.fm/mtoOA). Flin Flon is a town with a population of 5,000 that is also the base for QMC’s second mining focus, the Rocky-Namew Property, a prospective volcanic massive sulphide project located within a very prolific greenstone belt.

After exploring the Irgon Site to identify possible extensions to the known dike and locating additional mineralized lithium-bearing pegmatite dikes within the company’s property, the company began working to expose the dike completely along the strike length. Subsequently, it launched a program of channel sampling to confirm and extend the zone of known spodumene (lithium) mineralization. During the coming year, QMC intends to undertake a Phase 2 diamond drilling program while preparing the NI 43-101 report and any additional updates to it.

The company is particularly interested in significant spodumene mineralization in pegmatite dikes immediately west of the Irgon Dike and intends to begin exploration to see if the pegmatite comprises the western extension of the Irgon Dike or if it is an entirely new mineralized pegmatite system.

“Either way, as this new mineralized zone is being evaluated, it could quickly add potential resource expansion within the Irgon Project,” the company stated in its year-end MD&A report (http://ibn.fm/Husxv).

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.QMCMinerals.com