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Argentina
Pastos Grandes Project

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 Location:
54 Km SW from San Antonio de los Cobres, Argentina

  Project Contacts:
300 - 900 West Hastings Street
Vancouver
British Columbia, Canada
V6C 1E5
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Overview

StagePermitting
Mine TypeIn-Situ
Commodities
  • Lithium
Mining Method
  • Brine mining
Mine Life40 years (as of Jan 1, 2019)
An Environmental Impact Assessment-Exploitation for construction and operation of a 24,000 tonne per year battery-quality lithium carbonate production facility was approved in June 2020, and a Declaracion de Impacto Ambiental (DIA) from the Environmental and Mining Authority in Salta Province, Argentina was issued.


Owners

Source: p. 2, 38
CompanyInterestOwnership
Lithium Americas Corp. 100 % Indirect
On January 25, 2022, the Lithium Americas Corp. acquired Millennial Lithium Corp. (“Millennial”) and added its Argentinean lithium project Pastos Grandes to its pipeline of projects.

The Lithium Americas Corp conducts operations through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Millennial in Canada and Proyecto Pastos Grandes S.A. in Argentina.

Contractors

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Deposit Type

  • Brine


Summary:

Deposit Type
The Salar de Pastos Grandes is classified as a “Silver Peak, Nevada” type, terrigenous salar. Silver Peak, Nevada, USA was the first lithium-bearing brine deposit exploited in the world. These deposits are characteristic of arid zone, restricted basins within deep structural depressions in-filled with inter bedded clays, salt (halite), sands and gravels. In the Salar de Pastos Grandes, a lithium-bearing aquifer developed during arid climatic periods under similar conditions.

Mineralization
Ulexite hosted in Quaternary and modern sediments is common in the eastern side of the salar, close to the road to Sijes. It occurs either as small rounded concretions (“papas") in red clays and brown sands, or as a continuous layer (“barra”). Ulexite and colemanite are observed in the horizons of borates hosted in the Sijes Formation (Late Miocene) outcropping east and south of the Pastos Grandes Salar.

Halite is a common mineral within the Salar Pastos Grandes and is mined by digging pools of 4 meter by 1 meter wide and 1 meter. The pools become filled with brine rich in NaCl. The water evaporates at a rate of 6-8 mm/day, concentrating crystalline halite. Each pool is filled with salt in 5 to 6 months and "harvested" with backhoes or loaders. It is accumulated for dehydration before being shipped in bulk or in large bags.

Mineralization at the Property includes lithium-potassium rich – relatively low magnesium brine as detected throu ........


Mining Methods

  • Brine mining


Summary:

Brine extraction from the Salar will involve installing and operating a conventional brine production wellfield. The production process starts when brine is extracted from the aquifer beneath the Pastos Grandes Salar, it is then pumped from each well to pre-concentration ponds located near the active wells. From these later ponds brine is pumped to the remaining evaporation ponds and, once concentrated and partially purified, it is sent to the lithium carbonate plant.

Wellfield Layout
Results of the pumping tests for the project indicate that pumping rates of individual brine production wells will be an average of 20 l/s for each well. Therefore, it is planned that an average of 30 production wells will be operative at various flow rates optimized to extract brine from areas of higher lithium grades and higher transmissivity in order to meet the required brine feed rate of 540 l/s, as an average (varying from 480 l/s in Stage 1 to 600 l/s in Stage 2). Seasonal fluctuations in the evaporation rate dictate that the required brine feed rate which will decrease during the winter months and will increase during the summer months. Well completion depths will vary and are still being studied. Brine production wells will be completed with 12-inch diameter stainless steel production casing and equipped with 380 V submersible pumping equipment. Permanent power will be delivered to the wellfield area through a mid-range power line.

The overall wellfield conf ........


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

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Projected Production:

CommodityUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Lithium t 24,000942,000
All production numbers are expressed as carbonate.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Annual production capacity 24,000 t of lithium carbonate *
* According to 2019 study.

Reserves at July 29, 2019:
Cut-off grade for brine used to calculate the resource was 300 milligrams per liter.

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven 128,666,876 cu. m Lithium 470 mg/L 34,000 t
Proven 128,666,876 cu. m LCE 179,000 t
Probable 605,491,174 cu. m Lithium 431 mg/L 143,000 t
Probable 605,491,174 cu. m LCE 764,000 t
Proven & Probable 734,158,050 cu. m Lithium 439 mg/L 177,000 t
Proven & Probable 734,158,050 cu. m LCE 943,000 t
Measured 9,500,000,000 cu. m Lithium 446 mg/L 425,000 t
Measured 9,500,000,000 cu. m LCE 2,262,000 t
Indicated 8,600,000,000 cu. m Lithium 406 mg/L 349,000 t
Indicated 8,600,000,000 cu. m LCE 1,858,000 t
Measured & Indicated 18,000,000,000 cu. m Lithium 427 mg/L 774,000 t
Measured & Indicated 18,000,000,000 cu. m LCE 4,120,000 t
Inferred 3,500,000,000 cu. m Lithium 428 mg/L 150,000 t
Inferred 3,500,000,000 cu. m LCE 798,000 t

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Total cash costs Li2CO3 USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
Assumed price Li2CO3 USD  ......  Subscription required&nbs
* According to 2019 study / presentation.

2019 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Expansion CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Working capital $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
G&A costs $M USD 2.9
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Income Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Royalty payments $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Net Income (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
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Heavy Mobile Equipment:

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jul 29, 2019
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 14, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Feb 14, 2023
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Staff:

Total WorkforceYear
Subscription required 2019

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Management Discussion & Analysis 2022
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2020
................................... Subscription required 2019
Technical Report 2017
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