WA-based battery minerals explorer Lithium Energy is marching towards a maiden mineral resource estimate at its Solaroz project in Argentina after further assays from two drill holes confirmed more lithium hits.
The new results have further extended massive intersections of lithium-rich brines at holes 4 and 5 of its project in the country’s north-east. The project is a Salar de Olaroz lithium brine basin neighbour to Australian giant Allkem, which was last week at the centre of a lithium stakes-raising US$10.6 billion (AU$15.8 million) merger with US group Livent.
Lithium Energy says its new results confirm a 473.5m intersection of lithium-rich brines at drill hole number 4, which earlier this month returned conductive brines grading up to 508 milligrams per litre. Now, grades of 493mg/l to 501mg/l have also been unearthed.
And the company says there is potentially more good news to come from hole number 4, with another 140m of sampling and assays still pending. Those results will extend testing from 647.5m to the current hole depth of 787.5m.
By comparison, drill hole number 5 has only reached 640m, but intersections of conductive brine have extended to 489m and the highest lithium brine concentration has increased from 480mg/l to 495mg/l. The three new assays unveiled returned the drill hole’s best figures yet – all above 486mg/l.
A trend suggesting “the greater the depth, the higher the lithium concentrations” would seem to support the company’s theory that it has what is indicative of a hydraulically-linked system with heavier, lithium-rich brines settling lower in the aquifer. It is also awaiting further assay results from hole 5.
Both holes are close to completion, but activity at Solaroz is certainly not slowing down. A third rig is on its way and when it arrives, Lithium Energy will start probing its hole number 6.
The latest Solaroz assay results build on others released by the company last week that show extensions to intersections of lithium-rich brines at holes 4 and 5 – which management insist are significant because they highlight the continuity of massive lithium-rich brines along a 15km zone between drill holes 1 and 2.
The Solaroz tenements comprise 12,000 hectares within the Salar de Olaroz basin in South America’s so-called “Lithium Triangle”, which encompasses the north-west of Argentina and neighbouring Chile and Bolivia.
These drilling results continue to demonstrate the potential for Solaroz to support a world-class resource of lithium and with three rigs soon to be operating concurrently, we are excited to be rapidly advancing towards defining our maiden JORC resource at Solaroz. We consider the recently announced Allkem/Livent merger as a clear endorsement of our strategy to rapidly accelerate the development of Solaroz alongside Allkem. Lithium Energy executive chairman William Johnston
Allkem’s Olaroz operation sits about 200km north of Livent’s Salar del Hombre Muerto venture. Of equal, if not greater interest to Lithium Energy is that Allkem’s Olaroz bore field sits directly to the south of its own Mario Angel concession. The latter is only a few clicks from another promising project, the Cauchari-Olaroz lithium brine joint venture that counts Lithium Americas as a co-owner and boasts a DFS-supporting production of 40,000 tonnes per annum lithium carbonate for 40 years.
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