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Location: 184 km NW from Salta, Argentina
Level 18, Central Park, 152-158 St Georges TerracePerthWestern Australia, Australia6000
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The Rincon mineralisation is dissolved lithium in brine hosted in the pore or cavity space of clastic sediments and evaporites. Lithium mineralisation occurs as a brine within a sedimentary sequence in a mature salar, composed of halite, volcaniclastic sand and variable amounts of clay/sand. The brine is hosted in two separate aquifers: an upper unconfined fractured halitic aquifer and a lower semi-confined aquifer composed mainly of volcaniclastic sand.Active tectonics form and sustain numerous young Cenozoic endorheic basins in the Puna Plateau. North-south aligned thrust faults, grabens, and half grabens frequently create accommodation space, while transverse strike-slip faults or volcanism assist with basin closure. Siliclastic material deposited in the basins is sourced from the surrounding geology of the catchment area, although pre-basin sediments may also occur deeper in the basin and function as aquifers. Sedimentary deposits typically include evaporite deposits dominated by halite with widespread occurrence of gypsum, and travertine from active or dormant hydrothermal springs. The arid environment limits precipitation, and waters migrate downgradient to the salar margin. The aridity and phreatic brine level near land surface promotes groundwater evaporation which concentrates the fluids to form brines enriched in various metals and salts.Mineralisation of dissolved lithium in brine has low local variability with relatively consistent or increasing grades in the salar area and with increasing depth. Fractured halite and black sand aquifers contain the bulk of extractable lithium. The fractured halite unit is a close to surface, unconfined aquifer composed of a thick, well-developed body of halite with open, interconnected cavities between halite crystals. The fractured halite aquifer ranges in thickness from 1 m at the edge of the salar nucleus to 30 metres (m) in the centre. The fractured and upheaved salt crust has a jagged salt surface as a result of the continuous process of dissolution and recrystallisation of salt by evaporation. The black sand aquifer units exhibit confined to semi-confined conditions. Black sands are variably interbedded with massive halite at depths ranging from 30 m to 150 m and vary laterally throughout the salar area. The enriched brine aquifer system, which hosts lithium mineralisation is well understood and defined by brine level below land surface, assays, specific conductivity profiles, downhole geophysics, and transient electromagnetic surface geophysical surveys.DimensionsBecause the Mineral Resource is a mobile brine, the dimensions are effectively the identified brine aquifer located in the southern portion of the Rincon Project basin. The upper limit of the resource is defined by the depth to the brine interface. In the salar nucleus and margins, the depth to brine ranges from approximately 0.05 m to 2 m below land surface, respectively.The depth to brine interface increases north of the salar area. The lower definition of the resource is based on a drilled and sampled depth of 250 m in the salar nucleus. A deep exploration diamond hole drilled to a depth of 882 m confirms that mineralisation continues at depth, but was not used for the Mineral Resources estimate because continuity of deeper permeable units is not currently well understood.
