Mining Intelligence and News
Argentina

Salar de Arizaro Project

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Categories

Overview

Mine TypeIn-Situ
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • Lithium
Mining Method
  • Brine mining
Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotThe Arizaro Project is one of the last remaining undeveloped salars in the Lithium Triangle, with est. resource of 3,323,000 tonne LCE – highly de-risked with a clear pathway to production and high-quality infrastructure.

In February 2022, an Environmental Impact Study was submitted to the provincial mining authorities for the Project's prefeasibility stage, including environmental, social and community aspects, providing general information on the Project area.

The approval of EIS is in process, and additional permits are required for the project: the water permit for industrial water and the registration in the Registry of Hazardous Waste Generators has already been approved; the water permit for potable water and the municipal qualification are still in process and expected to be obtained in the short term.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Lithium Chile Inc. 100 % Indirect
Salar de Arizaro is 100% owned by Lithium Chile Inc. through its subsidiary Argentum Lithium S.A.

Deposit type

  • Brine

Summary:

Deposit Types
The deposit type corresponds to a brine aquifer within a salar basin.

Based on the available information, Salar de Arizaro is a mature salar, and one of the larger salars in the Argentinean altiplano. A thick halite core exists in the basin with underlying clastic sediments, forming the basis for the planned exploration program. Basin margins are interpreted to be fault controlled. The principal sources of water entering the project area are from surface water coming into the basin from the basin margins. To date, surface water flow has not been formally measured. Some groundwater inflow from natural recharge along the mountain fronts via alluvial fans is also believed to exist. In both cases, there appears to be limited mixing of the freshwater and brine in the basin due to density differences, although the mixing is believed to be more pronounced in the shallowest portion of the aquifer. As such, the freshwater entering the Project tends to stay in the upper part of the aquifer system on the edges of the basin, without moving to the central deep portion of the salar. These freshwater discharge areas tend to support altiplanic vegetation, especially along the margin.

Mineralization
The mineralization for the project consists of a lithium-enriched brine, generally below 190 m bls, that is contained within the pore spaces of the basin-fill sedimentary strata in the salar basin. Also, with this deep brine, boron and potassium enrichment may be considered as having future potential for economic extraction. The mineralization of the brine has occurred over a long period of time via evapo-concentration in the Salar, and the near surface portion is believed to be diluted by precipitation and freshwater recharge. Laterally, the brine is continuous throughout the mine concessions given the depositional environment and topographical low point where evapo-concentration occurs.

Based on the exploration to date within the Project concessions, the aquifer system is a lithium-enriched brine with generally consistent grades that are higher at depth. Approximate average lithium concentration in undiluted brine below 190 m ranges from about 200 – 360 mg/L, with elevated values in the southeast portion of the property below 110 m bls (exceeding 500 mg/L with depth).

The boundaries of the mineralization are suspected to be the basin hard rock, fault-bounded boundaries, although some lithium-enriched brine may be contained in the fractures and/or pores of the rocks that form the basin boundary. Aside from lithium, the distribution and chemical composition of the brine in the entire salar sediments is not currently known, even though this type of information exists for the Lithium Chile concessions.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Production

CommodityUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Lithium t 23,420446,907
All production numbers are expressed as carbonate.

Operational metrics

Metrics
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe
Annual processing capacity  ....  Subscribe
Daily brine extraction  ....  Subscribe
Annual brine extraction  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2023 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs Li2CO3 USD  ....  Subscribe
Total cash costs Li2CO3 USD  ....  Subscribe
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Li2CO3 USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Li2CO3 USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2023 study / presentation.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
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Pre-tax NPV @ 5% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 5% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
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Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNamePhoneEmailProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 4, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Aug 4, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ........... Subscription required ........... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 16, 2024

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2023

Aerial view:

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