The known sediments within the salar consist of salt/halite, clay, sand and silt horizons, accumulated in the salar from terrestrial sedimentation and evaporation of brines. Brines within the Salt Lake are formed by solar concentration, interpreted to be combined with warm geothermal fluids, with brines hosted within sedimentary units. Geology was recorded during the diamond drilling and from chip samples in rotary drill holes.

The Salar de Carachi Pampa is located within a large hinterland water catchment that focuses water flows into the closed drainage intermontane Carachi Pampa basin of about 9,500 km2. In particular, it drains the lithium bearing volcanic rocks of Cerro Galan volcano and associated hot springs, which is also interpreted to be the source of lithium for the Livent’s Fenix lithium brine project production at Salar de Hombre Muerto, about 110 km north of Kachi.

The Carachi Pampa basin is bounded to the east and west by NNE-SSW trending mountain ranges that have been raised by reverse faults to expose a basement sequence of rocks that rise to an elevation of 5,100 metres. The ranges are formed from Ordovician Falda Cienaga Formation comprising green-grey turbidites in outcrop, Permian Pataquia Formation, a red-bed sedimentary unit, and beige-green Eocene-aged Geste Formation of continental fluvial sediments.

The Carachi Pampa salt lake is rhomboidal in shape with a NW-SE long-axis, and covers a known surface area of about 135 km2. A Pliocene basaltic shield volcanic cone overlies the basin infill sediments with lave flow, scoria, and air fall basaltic debris, creating a veneer over the sediments and covering an area of approximately 70 km2.

To the south of the salar, ignimbrites, and unconsolidated pyroclastic sediments of the Cerro Blanco Pyroclastic Complex are thought to partially cover brine-saturated basinal sediments.

The conceptual mining method is recovering brine from the Salt Lake via a network of wells, the established practice on existing lithium and potash brine projects.

The plant design targets production of 25,500 tpa of battery grade lithium carbonate through the treatment of brine with direct lithium extraction technology based on ion exchange (IX).

The purified lithium concentrate was reacted with sodium carbonate to produce lithium carbonate.

The flowsheet comprises two sections:
1. Direct lithium extraction as per Lilac Solutions Inc, uses ion exchange to produce a lithium enriched eluate;
2. Lithium carbonate plant converts the eluate into refined lithium carbonate.

Prior to direct extraction, the brine is extracted from the salar and piped to a brine storage pond. The brine is filtered to remove suspended solids, and then processed in the direct extraction plant, which recovers and concentrates lithium to an eluate stream using ion exchange. Lithium-depleted brine from the direct extraction plant is reinjected into the salar.

After direct extraction, the eluate stream is further concentrate ........