Lithium Energy has hit solid results from its first step-out drillhole outside its recently-released maiden resource at its Solaroz lithium brine project in Argentina, with a grade of 386 milligrams per litre.
Assay results have confirmed a 24m intersection from the seventh hole sunk at the company’s Payo 1 concession and to the north of the previously-identified mineral resource area.
Lithium Energy recently released a maiden mineral resource of 3.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), averaging 310mg/l lithium, including a high-grade core of 1.34 million tonnes LCE with an average concentration of 405mg/l lithium.
Management says the latest results are comparable to assays from hole three, located 6km to the south, and is a positive indication of the extension of lithium mineralisation into the 1973-hectare Payo 1 concession area.
We are extremely pleased to have encountered lithium mineralisation at drillhole 7 In the Payo 1 concession at Solaroz, as this highlights the potential for further expansion of lithium mineralisation at the Solaroz Lithium Project – which already holds a significant and strategic lithium resource. Lithium Energy executive chairman William Johnson
Importantly, management says it has encountered a massive halite layer at Payo 1, which it believes sits above the target deep sand unit.
Previous drilling at Solaroz indicates the halite layer typically acts as a “cap” above the deep sand unit, where the highest grades and volumes of lithium are found. The company says the massive halite layer at Payo 1 is a positive indicator for encountering a deep sand unit and further lithium mineralisation at depth in the new area.
Minerals.net describes halite as, “the natural form of salt … a very common and well-known mineral. It is found in solid masses, and as a dissolved solution in the oceans and in salt lakes”.
Drilling is continuing at hole seven, with brine samples showing increasing densities from 233m to 257m and again between 281m and 305m.
Hole six has been completed to a depth of about 623m, with assay results showing a total 356m of lithium-rich brine intercepts featuring concentrations of up to 594mg/l lithium. The results from hole six were not included in the company’s maiden mineral resource.
A rig is now mobilising to begin work at the company’s eighth target on the Chico 1 concession along a 15km zone where previous drilling hit intercepts of up to 489m thick at concentrations of 594mg/l lithium. The company is planning to drill the eighth hole to a depth of about 550m to test the extent of lithium mineralisation.
The Solaroz brine project takes in about 12,000 hectares in South America’s renowned “Lithium Triangle”. The zone is projected to host about a third of the world’s lithium resources in underground bodies of fluid known as brines and is nestled between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.
Lithium Energy, along with Allkem and Lithium Americas, controls the brine basin, which is renowned for being a low-cost, low-impurity and high-margin lithium producer. Allkem produces 42,500 tonnes per annum of LCE and Lithium Americas is building a 40,000 tonnes per annum LCE plant. Allkem recently announced total resources of 27 million tonnes of LCE in its Olaroz holdings.
Considering Lithium Energy only recently released its maiden resource, hitting early positive results from its first step-out campaign shows the potential for a significant upgrade if results in the previously-undrilled areas of Solaroz continue to deliver.
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