American Lithium AMLM - a scam exposed?

This came across from a colleague this morning. You have to love Pinksheet/OTCBB companies that make people believe it's a real deal!!

Sell while you're ahead - you can thank us later.

DJ IN THE MONEY: American Lithium (AMLM) And The Mystery Stock Promoter

Thursday, November 05, 2009 01:08:00 PM

By Carol S. Remond
A DOW JONES NEWSWIRES COLUMN

Like many development stage companies, American Lithium Minerals Inc. has negative working capital, no revenues and little in the form of actual business.
The stock of this Nevada corporation rose to a high of $2.99 last month, spurred by promotional newsletters paid by Lock Partners Inc. Then the company's stock price suddenly dived last week in heavy trading volume. The stock was recently trading at $2.27.
American Lithium came to life in February through a name change and four-for-one forward stock split. The company, which says it's investigating prospective lithium opportunities, has so far spent $61,000 to purchase "an option to acquire" mining claims in Nevada. On Thursday, it said it signed a letter of intent to acquire a lithium project in Utah.
Nobody at American Lithium was available to comment despite repeated phone calls.
A Vancouver promotional outfit called Rhino Marketing Inc., which was hired by Lock to market American Lithium, said Lock might be Swiss, when asked about it. But there's no sign of Lock in the Swiss corporate registry. Disclaimers indicate that Lock paid $300,000 to various outfits to promote American Lithium stock.
While the people behind American Lithium's stock promotion might want to remain anonymous, there are a few signs that might concern investors.
Two of the men hired to run the company have ties to BG Capital, an investment group based in Barbados. BG Capital has a knack for acquiring big stock positions in struggling companies on the cheap and securing large fees for its consulting services. Deals involving BG Capital tend to be highly dilutive to other shareholders.
Robert "Bobby" Genovese, founder and owner of BG Capital Group Ltd and BG Capital Management Corp., didn't return a phone calls seeking comment. Marco Markin, BG Capital Management's chief executive, also didn't return a call. According to its Website, BG has offices in Nassau, Florida, Los Angeles, Toronto and Vancouver.
Matthew Markin, who according to a Canadian news article is Marco's brother, was president of American Lithium from May 2008 to Oct. 2009. He remains as chairman of the board.
Steve Cook, American Lithium's PR guy has worked on BG Capital's two last turnaround projects, Clearly Canadian Brands Corp. (CCBEF) and Spectrum Sciences & Software Holdings Corp., now Horne International Inc. (HNIN).
Matthew Markin nor Cook returned several phone calls seeking comments. Matthew Markin worked for another BG Capital company, Neptune Society, from April 2002 to December 2003. (Marco Markin was president of Neptune Society from October 1999 to January 2004.)
Reached on his cell phone Tuesday, Cook said that this reporter's messages had been passed on to Matthew Markin and hung up.

Part 2
Searches of phone records show that the number listed on American Lithium's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission is registered to "BG Capital Man" - which might stand for BG Capital Management.
Cook features preeminently in a 2008 reality show titled Bobby G: Adventure Capitalist. The show's eight episodes show Cook, Genovese and members of his team hard at work, attempting to turn around Clearly Canadian. The stock of this Canadian beverage company climbed to a high of $4.55 in June 2006, about a year and a half after BG Capital first became involved with the company. The stock was recently trading at 6 cents a share.
Before Clearly Canadian, BG Capital and related entities were working with budding engineering company Spectrum Sciences. Spectrum's stock reached a high of $4.02 in April 2004, months after Genovese began controlling a large portion of its shares through dilutive consulting and financing arrangements. Spectrum shares were down to about $1.30 by late May 2004 after the company said the SEC was looking into its dealings with consultants. In November 2005, BG Capital agreed to pay $3.25 million to settle a lawsuit brought by a Spectrum shareholder seeking to recover short swing profits. That same month, Spectrum Sciences said the SEC had concluded its investigation without recommending any enforcement action. (Spectrum Sciences and Genovese were featured in several In The Money columns in 2004).
According to filings with the SEC, Matthew Markin owns 22 million shares of American Lithium's 49 million shares outstanding at the end of July.
The company said it raised $1.45 million in two private placements in July and October to foreign investors. According to a filing, the July $450,000 placement was purchased by Seaplane Ventures Inc. The document didn't indicate where that entity is registered or who controls it.

(Carol S. Remond, a special writer on the In The Money team, is an award-winning columnist who won a Gerald Loeb Award in 2005 for best news service content with "Exposing Small-Cap fraud," a series of articles that described how three small companies unscrupulously pumped up their stocks. She can be reached at 303-997-5783 or by e-mail: carol.remond@dowjones.com)

New Lithium Rush! Toyota converts to Li-ion from NiMh - TNR.V, CZX.V, MAI.V, MCI.V, WLC.V, CLQ.V

Toyota has finally come to their senses and admits Lithium-Ion is the wave of the future...

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2009/11/toyota-reportedly-planning-prius-wagon-or-suv-with-lithium-battery-pack.html

Toyota Motor Corp.'s made no secret of it desire to leverage its successful Prius into an entire line of cars - why not make good use of a name that's synonymous with 'hybrid' to so many people?

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Toyota's been toying with the idea of a Prius wagon for years, as shown by the Hybrid X Concept it debuted at the 2007 Geneva auto show.
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So its no surprise that a Japanese newspaper - the widely circulatedYomiuri - is reporting that the automaker plans to launch a Prius sport wagon or sport utility vehicle around the end of next year.

The timing seems spot-on. After all, the industry journal Automotive News reported way back in October of 2007 that Toyota planners had said the 2010 Prius sedan would be followed in a year or so by a wagon version.

That's the year Toyota actually showed us what a Prius wagon might look like with the unveiling of the Hybrid X Concept at the Geneva auto show.

Production would certainly be no stretch.

It doesn't sell any wagons in the U.S., but Toyota builds several for the home market that could provide underpinnings for a Prius hybrid version. A good argument can be built for considering the U.S.-market Venza (right)introduced this year to be a sporty wagon.

As for a Prius SUV - well, what's the Lexus RX 400h except a Prius SUV wrapped in a luxury body?

A little odd-sounding is the reported choice of a lithium-ion chemistry for the vehicle's batteries - top Toyota officials have been publicly proclaiming for months now that they don't believe lithium-ion batteries are sufficiently cheap or reliable yet for retail use.

In every boom there are the OTC scams - beware!

Instead of bringing news from the market today - I thought I would shed light on some potential lithium investments that readers have been bringing to my attention - on the OTCBB/PinkSheets.

The scary thing is - 99% of these companies are not real. Call me a skeptic, but when insider tradings and Financial Statements do not have to be filed and audited - how does anyone know what they're told is verified?

For example, if I started a work program on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) - I will need a QP (Qualified Person) statement such as the one below from TNR Gold Corp (TNR:TSX) today.

TNR Gold to option Sarcobatus from Tonogold Resources

2009-11-10 14:59 ET - News Release

Mr. Gary Schellenberg reports

TNR GOLD/INTERNATIONAL LITHIUM INCREASE NEVADA POSITION, SARCOBATUS FLATS-LITHIUM BRINE PROJECT

TNR Gold Corp. and its wholly owned International Lithium Corp. have signed a letter agreement to acquire up to a 100-per-cent interest in the 1,076-hectare Sarcobatus Flats lithium brine property, located 109 kilometres south of Tonopah, Nye County, in Nevada, from Tonogold Resources Inc. of La Jolla, in California.

Summary:

• Acquires 1,076-hectare Sarcobatus Flats property;
• An underexplored analogue to the producing lithium brines at Clayton Valley;
• TNR will focus on advancing its highly prospective Nevada projects.

Gary Schellenberg, president of TNR, states: "Our objective is to become one of the foremost companies in the Nevada lithium exploration and development sector. The acquisition of the Sarcobatus Flats property is a definitive step towards achieving our goal."

Sarcobatus Flats is a desert playa lake located in Western Nevada along Route 95, approximately 109 km south of Tonopah and 72 km southeast of Clayton Valley, the location of the producing Silver Peak world-class lithium brine deposit. The Sarcobatus Flats project consists of 105 placer claims totalling 1,076 hectares.

The acquisition of the new claims was prompted by the highly anomalous concentrations of lithium, ranging between 210 and 340 parts per million Li, encountered from a preliminary surface sediment sampling program conducted on the Sarcobatus Flats claim group. There are also several important similarities between the settings of Sarcobatus Flats and a Clayton Valley-type lithium brine deposit. The property is located in a closed structural basin. It contains similar stratigraphy and occupies a lacustrine environment similar in regional hydrogeography and geochemistry to Clayton Valley. In essence, Sarcobatus Flats represents an underexplored early-stage analogue to Clayton Valley.

To earn a 100-per-cent interest, TNR has agreed to make payments totalling $130,000 (U.S.) and issue 675,000 common shares over a four-year period. The vendor will retain a 2.5-per-cent royalty of which TNR has the right to purchase up to 2 per cent of the royalty by paying Tonogold $1-million (U.S.) per 1 per cent purchased, for a total of $2-million (U.S.), thereby reducing Tonogold's NSR to 0.5 per cent. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval.

TNR intends to explore its Nevada properties and determine if lithium evaporates and brine deposits have formed, similar to those found at Clayton Valley. It is developing an integrated regional lithium exploration approach using geochemical and basin modeling with gravity, electromagnetic, hydrogeological, and geochemical fieldwork to identify drill targets. The TNR exploration team has extensive geochemical, GIS modeling and targeting experience across four continents, with specific expertise in lithium and other rare metals.

John Harrop, PGeo, is TNR's qualified person on the project as required under NI 43-101. He has reviewed the technical information contained in this press release.

Of course, I refer to the red-highlighted area above. A credible third-party geolo

gist who has the necessary experiences from years of actual training and work experience. Not to mention it's passed the stringent test of the Canadian educational facilities.

By contrast, take a look at OTCBB's Blackhawk Explorations. No geological consultants mentioned - none of the management has even remote geological experience, coupled with complete lack of transparency on financials.. now they're drilling in Nevada???

If you have been following Mining101 for awhile - you know we have a great track record here - take a look at us calling MCI and HAO shoddy plays back in June - now they're all back down to their lows. Strategy for BHWX is to take profit ASAP.

THE SHODDY LITHIUM PLAYS

Black Hawk Exploration Approves Geologists Recommended Drill Program to Explore for Lithium Bearing Brines on Clayton Valley Claims

2009-11-02 06:00 ET - News Release

FOX ISLAND, Wash., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Black Hawk Exploration, Inc. ("Black Hawk") announces plans to advance the Blue Lithium 56 claim 1,120 acre land position in the Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County Nevada. Hunsaker, Inc., consulting geologists to Black Hawk have recommended an initial drill program for Lithium bearing brines. The brines are expected to occur between 600 and 800 feet based on the 1980's U.S. Geological Survey work completed in the 1980's by the U.S. Geological Survey and the nearby producing wells at the Chemetall-Foote Silver Peak operation also in Clayton Valley. Drilling costs are estimated to be $30 a foot and the drill program is designed to identify the depth of the Brines, Lithium concentration, chemical characteristics and the geologic/aquifer settings.

Site permitting will be done utilizing the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Notice Level process. This provides for permitting less then 5 acres of disturbance for exploration on mineral properties which is more than sufficient for Black Hawk's current program. Most typically the entire Notice Level Permitting (NLP) is approved / accepted in 3 to 4 weeks. Once the NLP is submitted the BLM has 15 days to review and issue their comments and/or approval.

The submission of Black Hawk's NLP will describe our ownership, intended exploration program, planned disturbance, and reclamation plans. The reclamation program for the NLP requires bonding based on a prescribed BLM formula. The bonding process will utilize the Nevada Division of Mining Statewide Bonding Pool.

Black Hawk's Board of Directors have approved funding for the program submitted by Black Hawk Exploration's Geologists and expect the Clayton Valley permitting process to begin this week.

The lack of information is amazing - I'd stay away if you value your money.

About Black Hawk Exploration Inc.:

WWW.BlackHawkExploration.com

Black Hawk is a diversified metals and energy exploration company with its current focus on lithium exploration through its wholly owned subsidiary Blue Lithium. Black Hawk is committed to an aggressive program of value added property acquisition, project generation, asset diversity and building Shareholder value.

"Safe Harbor" Statement: Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements in the press release that relate to the company's expectations with regard to the future impact on the company's results from new products in development are forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.

Certain oral statements made by management from time to time and certain statements contained in press releases and periodic reports issued by Black Hawk (the "Company"), as well as those contained herein, that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and, because such statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Black Hawk Exploration Inc.

CONTACT: Kevin M. Murphy, CEO of Black Hawk Exploration, +1-253-973-7135,
or Baronmarney@msn.com

_______

Then, there's American Lithium (AMLM:PK) who blatantly considers their early-stage assets as "Saudi Arabia of Lithium in USA". Despite the laughable attempt to trick mass market investors (unfortunately, with such opaque financial statements and insider trading information), AMLM finds themselves at a point nearly $2/share, which with 50 millions shares outstanding, bringing total market cap to a ridiculous $100 million market cap...based on early stage one lithium brine project?

Completely blown out of proportion and utterly unbelievable.

If you're making money on that position I'd recommend immediately exiting.

With blatant promo like this it's amazing SEC lets' them get away with it.

Dundee Securities coverage on Lithium Sector: TNR.V, CLQ.V, WLC.v

http://research.dundeesecurities.com/Research/Lithium102809.pdf

Dundee is one of the well-respected research houses in Canada.

Dundee Bank of Canada is a Schedule I Canadian Chartered bank. We are a member of the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Dundee Bank of Canada is purpose-built specifically to serve professional financial advisors. We offer innovative and rate-competitive banking products backed by professional sales support, service and execution. Our objective is to help advisors build their business by providing them with better options for their clients. Our commitment to advisors is that we will not cross-sell, solicit or prospect an advisor’s clients.

Dundee trades under the symbol DW on the TSX:Exchange and is now about $12CDN/share.

Similar to the Byron Securities' Lithium overview - Dundee offers a breakdown on the current supply versus demand of lithium, from rough approximation of production figures to comparing it on per vehicle lithium-carbonate requirements.

All very fascinating read. They also then list out credible groups on the TSX and provide an update/background on each. Our favorite small junior exploration group is featured, of course.

TNR Gold Corp./International Lithium

TNR Gold was an early mover in acquiring lithium properties and has assembled a package of eight properties that continues to grow. The projects are located in diverse geographical locations with pegmatites in Canada and Ireland and brine projects in Nevada and Argentina. TNR Gold plans a spin out of its lithium and rare earth element assets into International Lithium Corp. in the first quarter of 2010. The company will also be looking for joint venture partners to move their extensive property portfolio forward.

Lithium One Inc.

Lithium One’s primary focus is the 1,700 hectare James Bay project in northern Quebec. Several pegmatite dyke swarms have been identified by surface mapping. Drilling and trenching was undertaken in 2009 and most reported intercepts and channel samples have been in the 1.3% to 1.7% Li2O range. Lithium One estimates that true widths of the dykes are up to 30m wide. The company has also recently acquired over 25,000 hectares of land in Argentina with surface brine samples containing high levels of lithium and potash (averaging of 640 ppm Li)

Canada Lithium Corp.

Canada Lithium’s (CLQ) primary focus is its past-producing Quebec Lithium Project. CLQ is also looking at other spodumene pegmatite deposits in Canada and has a 75% interest in a joint venture exploring for lithium brine deposits in Nevada. CLQ has commenced a pre-feasibility study on Quebec Lithium and is aiming for a completed feasibility study in 2010. CLQ suggested in March 2009 that it had materially advanced its lithium carbonate metallurgical process and could ultimately produce battery quality lithium carbonate. Quebec Lithium is located 60 km north of Val d’Or and produced for ten years in the 1950’s and 60’s. Spodumene rich dikes were extracted from an underground operation. An historic resource of 15.6 million tonnes with a grade of 1.14% Li2O remained following a ten year operation.