Concentration Grade Over 50% Higher Than Candelas
Galan Lithium Limited (ASX:GLN) has successfully completed the preliminary predictive model for brine concentration through an evaporation ponds system at the Hombre Muerto West (HMW) Project in Argentina.
Results indicate that a concentrate with up to a 4.8 % Li (or 25.6% LCE) can be obtained including high lithium recovery and low impurities. HMW has the potential to be a world class lithium brines project.
HMW is located within one of the world’s greatest lithium projects’ cluster, Salar del Hombre Muerto, where Livent Corp. has been producing lithium carbonate for more than 20 years, and POSCO and Galaxy Resources Ltd are developing (separately) their respective Sal de Vida projects.
Managing Director, JP Vargas de la Vega, said HMW’s brine quality shows that it can be more than competitive for the potential production of battery grade lithium carbonate. This can be achieved by using existing proven technologies based on the experience of the specialised lithium consultants (Ad-Infinitum).
The brines data was modelled using HMW’s chemical database from its 1.37 Mt LCE Mineral Indicated mineral resource (ASX announcement 22 June 2020) and was prepared by Ad-Infinitum using a specialised software package.
The predictive model was optimised for high lithium grade and recovery, small evaporation area and low impurity contents. As a result, the brine concentration yielded up to 4.8% lithium.
Mr de la Vega said that importantly, Galan now has two exceptional projects (HMW and Candelas) that rank favourably against the new lithium projects for lithium recovery and pond size. High grade lithium feed is crucial for any potential lithium processing plant as it allows greater flexibility in terms of where the plant can be located eg. plant could be located hundreds of kms from site in a place with better access to roads, utilities and other infrastructure.
“Our work in Argentina continues despite the constraints in place across the globe. Galan’s site team has recently completed the collection of three cubic metres of brine sample from the HMW Project. Galan intends to transport the brine samples to a world-renowned laboratory to solidify the results predicted by the evaporation ponds modelling at HMW.”
Galan’s tudy team is currently developing the design of the evaporation ponds system and the confirmation of the preferable production capacity. The process design and pond layout are set to be completed during October. The PEA/Scoping Study remains on track expecting results in Q4 2020.
Mr de la Vega said that based on the strong results for HMW, Galan’s Board and project team have prioritised the development of the HMW Project with the following next steps:
- Initiation of the test work activities at laboratory scale for the verification of the concentrated brine quality and target the production of battery grade lithium carbonate from HMW.
- Complete the preliminary process design of HMW Project and evaporation ponds system layout to confirm the production capacity.
‘This is another exciting step for Galan. The preliminary modelling results for HMW confirm that it is a higher priority development project than Candelas. Our efforts are now fully focussed on developing an economic and competitive project at Hombre Muerto West,” Mr de la Vega said.
“Importantly, due to the project’s high grade/low impurity settings, Galan’s HMW project ranks very favourably amongst new developing lithium brine projects in the world-renowned lithium triangle.
“We fully believe in our special project and are primarily focused on proving that HMW can and will be, a future lithium producer. “We remain on track to deliver our PEA/Scoping Study in Q4 2020. We look forward to continuing to optimise results and to test work further solutions once we have our brine delivered to the laboratory.”
