Lithium Chile Inc. (TSXV: LITH | OTC: LTMCF) has released the results of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its Salar de Arizaro lithium project in the Salta province of Argentina.
The PEA provides an independent economic assessment of the potential of Arizaro, based upon the lithium resources outlined in the July 2023 resource estimate and was completed by Ausenco in accordance with NI 43-101 standards.
The study demonstrated the potential of a 25,000tpa commercial-scale operation to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate over 19 years. It was based on a recently updated resource totalling 3.32Mt of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in the indicated and inferred categories.
“The filing of this technical report is another important milestone. These results support our view that the Arizaro project has the potential to be a world-class producer of lithium carbonate,” commented Lithium Chile CEO, Steve Cochrane.
“We are excited about continued advancement of this project – a continuing journey of near-term enhancement opportunities that have already been identified.”
The after-tax net present value for the Arizaro project is pegged at US$1.1B, with an internal rate of return of 24.1% and payback period of 3.6 years. The initial capital costs are estimated at US$823M with an operating cost estimated at US$5,197/t LCE.
The Company will be filing an updated NI 43-101 report with an indicated resource of 1.737M metric tonnes of LCE and inferred resource of 1.583M metric tonnes of LCE from its Salar de Arizaro, Argentina project. The phase two development programme on the Salar de Arizaro is underway with results to be included in an updated NI 43-101 report which will be filed on SEDAR when completed.
Testing of the brine samples will be done at the company’s lab in Jujuy province to determine best production processes for lithium extraction.
For further information, please visit: www.lithiumchile.ca
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