.
Enter the email you signed up with and we'll email it to you.
Location: 130 km NE from Copiapo, Chile
Huerfanos 1270P.O. Box 150-DSantiagoChile
Stay on top of the latest gold discoveries. Examine the latest updates on drilling outcomes spanning various commodities.
Mining scale, mining and mill throughput capaciites.Full profiles of select mines and projects.
Shaft depth, mining scale, backfill type and mill throughput data.Full profiles of select mines and projects.
Equipment type, model, size and quantity.Full profiles of select mines and projects.
Camp size, mine location and contacts.Full profiles of select mines and projects.
In December 2022, Lithium Power International Limited (LPI) consolidated 100% ownership of MSB S.A. via two all-scrip mergers with Minera Salar Blanco SpA (MSB SpA) and Bearing Lithium Corp.
In March 2024, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco), Salar de Maricunga SpA, acquired 100% of the share capital of LPI. Now, LPI is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Codelco.
- subscription is required.
Salar de Maricunga is a mixed style salar. An upper halite unit occurs (up to 34 m in thickness) in the central northern part of the Salar and hosts the upper brine aquifer. The halite unit is underlain by low permeability lacustrine sediments. The Salar is surrounded by relative coarse grained alluvial and fluvial sediments. These fans demark the perimeter of the actual salar and at depth grade towards the centre of the Salar where they form the distal facies with an increase in sand and silt. At depth two unconsolidated volcanoclastic units have been identified that appear quite similar. These two volcanoclastic units are separated by a relatively thin and continuous sand unit which may be reworked material of the lower volcanoclastic unit. A volcanic breccia was identified on the northern and western parts of the OCC that locally interfingers with the lower volcanoclastic unit. A lower brine aquifer is hosted in the lower alluvial, volcanoclastic, and volcanic breccia units (below the lacustrine sediments).MineralizationThe brines from Maricunga are solutions nearly saturated in sodium chloride with an average concentration of total dissolved solids (TDS) of 311 g/L. The average density is 1.20 g/cm3. Other components present in the Maricunga brine are: K, Li, Mg, Ca, SO4, HCO3 and B. Elevated values of strontium (mean of 359 mg/L) also have been detected.Brine quality is evaluated through the relationship of the elements of commercial interest, such as lithium and potassium, with those components that in some respect constitute impurities, such as Mg, Ca and SO4. The brines from Maricunga have an Mg/Li ratio (6.5) very similar to the Atacama brine (6.4). However, Maricunga has a low sulphate content, which is illustrated by the very low molar ratio (SO4+2B)/(Mg+Ca) that is also influenced by a relatively high calcium content.This is an advantage as it will reduce lithium losses as lithium sulphate salts in the ponds for the conventional solar evaporation process.
Success!