Lithium Energy has unveiled the best hit yet from drilling at its Solaroz project in Argentina, with its latest diamond drillhole giving 24m at a grade of 483 milligrams per litre lithium from 233m to 257m depth in the sandstone of the Upper Aquifer.
The company has also revealed that the same drillhole, at the northern Payo 1 concession within the Salar de Olaroz Basin, encountered continuous lithium brines through 110m between 185m and 295m. It says massive halite was intercepted above the Deep Sand unit, which constitutes part of the Lower Aquifer.
We are extremely pleased to have encountered the highest grade of lithium to date in the upper aquifer at Solaroz, at drillhole 7 in the Payo 1 concession. This result confirms the potential for continuity of lithium grades to the north of the Solaroz concessions. One of the assumptions in our initial maiden 3.3Mt LCE Mineral Resource Estimate was that, in the absence of drilling data in the northern part of the Solaroz concessions at time of the MRE, the lithium grades at Solaroz would decline to the north. These initial results from drillhole 7 indicate that this may not be the case. We keenly await the next assay results as drilling transitions into the Deep Sand Unit in Hole 7 as we test this target to a depth of 750 metres. Lithium Energy executive chairman William Johnson
The hole is step-out from the area that encloses the company’s maiden JORC-inferred mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 3.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at Solaroz, including a high-grade zone of 1.34 million tonnes of LCE, with an average concentration of 405 mg/l lithium at a 350 mg/l lithium cut-off grade. It was designed to test conductive brines identified by geophysics in the relatively big and undrilled Northern Block concessions, Payo 1 and Payo 2 North.
With drilling currently passing 639m in a zone indicating a transition from halite to the Deep Sand unit and based on the thickness of the halite, lithium intercepts in previous holes, interpretation and geophysics, the company has elected to increase the hole’s target depth from its originally-planned depth of about 600m to about 750m, which is the limit of the rig’s capability.
Grades have historically proven to be typically higher in the Lower Aquifer than in the Upper Aquifer and Lithium Energy anticipates that the current hole could intersect a run of good grades in the Deep Sand unit.
Management says the rock sequence encountered so far is comparable to a previous drillhole that lies about 6km to the south/south-west, inferring a possible continuity of lithium mineralisation and grade between the two holes.
It adds that in the previous hole, the halite horizon ran from 283m to 499m depth for a total intercept of 216m and that drilling was terminated early in the Deep Sand unit at 590m due to rig depth limitations. So, a bigger rig with greater depth capacity was brought in to drill the next hole.
Separately, the company reveals that drilling at its Chico 1 concession has begun, with a new drillhole located about 4km west of the previous hole. It is advancing to about 106m, with a target depth of 550m. The hole is designed to test the north-eastern extents of a 15km-long zone where previous drilling of five holes by the company revealed solid intersections of lithium-rich brines in both the Upper and Lower Aquifers, up to 489m thick and with lithium concentrations of up to 594mg/l.
Lithium Energy holds a 90 per cent interest in the Solaroz lithium project that sits within South America’s renowned “Lithium Triangle” in north-west Argentina. It comprises 12,000 hectares of highly-prospective lithium mineral concessions.
And the company certainly seems to be directing much of its namesake energy into the area, which appears to have notable potential and is turning up highlight intercepts in almost every hole drilled to date.
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