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Argentina
Sal de Vida Project

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 Location:
165 km SW from Salta, Argentina

  Project Contacts:
Riparian Plaza Level 35, 71 Eagle Street
GPO Box 3024
Brisbane
Queensland, Australia
4000
Phone  ...  Subscription required
Fax+61-8-9215-1700
EmailEmail
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  • Overview
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  • Mining
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Overview

StageConstruction
Mine TypeSurface
Commodities
  • Lithium
Mining Method
  • Brine mining
Production Start...
Mine Life40 years (as of Jan 1, 2023)
Sal de Vida is a globally competitive project with superior brine chemistry that readily upgrades to battery-grade lithium carbonate.

In 2022, Allkem commenced development of the 15,000 tonnes per annum (“tpa”) Sal de Vida Stage 1 project. Construction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025. Allkem plans a further 30,000 tpa modular (15,000 tpa + 15,000 tpa) Stage 2 expansion which is currently in a pre-feasibility study phase. The Project aims to produce 45,000 tpa in total from the planned staged expansions.

Stage 2 construction is anticipated to commence upon receipt of applicable permits and substantial mechanical completion of Stage 1 with Stage 2 first production approximately 2.5 - 3 years thereafter.


Owners

Source: p. 30
CompanyInterestOwnership
Allkem Ltd. 100 % Indirect
Galaxy Lithium (Sal de Vida) S.A. (operator) 100 % Direct
Ownership Tree
Allkem’s mining tenement interests in the Sal de Vida project are held by Galaxy Lithium (Sal de Vida) S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Galaxy Resources Ltd. (Australia) which in turn is 100% owned by Allkem Ltd. since August 2021.

Contractors

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Deposit Type

  • Brine


Summary:

The regional geological setting is the Altiplano Puna plateau, an area of uplift that began during the middle to late Miocene (10 – 15 Ma). Red-bed sediments formed during the early to middle Miocene in areas of structural depressions. During the middle to late Miocene, a combination of thrust faulting, uplift and volcanism led to the sedimentary basins becoming isolated. The Cordilleras and major watersheds bound the Puna area to the west and east. Sedimentation in these basins began with the formation of alluvial fans at the feet of the uplifted ranges and continued with the development of playa sandflats and mudflat facies.

In basin areas, the watersheds are within the basins; there are no outlets from the basins. Ongoing runoff, both surface and underground, continued solute dissolution from the basins and concentration in their centres where evaporation is the only outlet. Evaporite minerals occur both as disseminations within a clastic sequence and as discrete beds.

The Salar system in the Hombre Muerto basin is considered a typical mature salar. The Hombre Muerto basin has an evaporite core that is dominated by halite. Basin margins are steep and are interpreted to be fault-controlled. The east basin margin is predominantly Pre-Cambrian metamorphic and crystalline rocks belonging to Pachamama formation. Volcanic tuff and reworked tuffaceous sediments, most likely from Cerro Galan complex, together with tilted Tertiary rocks, are common along the w ........


Mining Methods

  • Brine mining


Summary:

There are two wellfields considered for production; one in the East and one in the Southwest. For Stage 1, only wells from the East wellfield will be used, while Stage 2 will utilise the Southwest wellfield. The locations of production wells were selected to reduce long-term freshwater drawdown and maintain the highest possible brine grade.

Ten wells have been constructed for Stage 1, all wells will be connected through pipelines to a booster station that is be situated in a central location to the wellfield. The booster station combines brines from the different wells and acts as a brine pumping station to reach the ponds and provide a buffer for seasonal flow changes. The average flow from the brine wells to the first evaporation ponds will be approximately 159 litres per second (“L/s”) for Stage 1.

The production well locations were selected to reduce long-term freshwater level drawdown and maintain as high a brine grade as possible, given each well location and the potential for brine dilution. During wellfield construction, each production well will be tested and analysed immediately after construction.

Well depths, well filters, and well casing blind intervals sealed from pumping were designed based on the following factors:
• Location of lithium-bearing brine zones;
• Location of aquifer zones with comparatively large hydraulic conductivity;
• Location of existing fresh or brackish water zones, and/or future potential fo ........


Crushing and Grinding


Processing

Flow Sheet: Subscription required

Summary:

- subscription is required.


Projected Production:
The product mix entails 80% battery grade, 20% technical grade. Average Product grade >99.65 % Li2CO3.

CommodityUnitsAvg. AnnualLOM
Lithium t 15,000595,385
All production numbers are expressed as carbonate.

Operational Metrics:

Metrics
Annual production capacity  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2023 study.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Reserves at August 31, 2023:
Ore Reserve Estimate assumes 300 mg/L Li cut-off grade
Mineral Resource Estimate assumes 300 mg/L lithium cut-off grade.

CategoryTonnage CommodityGradeContained Metal
Proven 105 M cu.m Lithium 799 mg/L 83,587 t
Proven 105 M cu.m LCE 445 kt
Probable 513 M cu.m Lithium 748 mg/L 383,467 t
Probable 513 M cu.m LCE 2,041 kt
Proven & Probable 618 M cu.m Lithium 757 mg/L 467,054 t
Proven & Probable 618 M cu.m LCE 2,486 kt
Measured 880 M cu.m Lithium 752 mg/L 660,595 t
Measured 880 M cu.m LCE 3,516 kt
Indicated 760 M cu.m Lithium 742 mg/L 564,375 t
Indicated 760 M cu.m LCE 3,004 kt
Measured & Indicated 1,600 M cu.m Lithium 747 mg/L 1,224,970 t
Measured & Indicated 1,600 M cu.m LCE 6,520 kt
Inferred 220 M cu.m Lithium 556 mg/L 122,497 t
Inferred 220 M cu.m LCE 652 kt
Total Resource 1,900 M cu.m Lithium 724 mg/L 1,347,467 t
Total Resource 1,900 M cu.m LCE 7,172 kt

Commodity Production Costs:

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs LCE USD  ......  Subscription required
Assumed price Li2CO3 USD  ......  Subscription required
* According to 2023 study / presentation.
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

2023 Study Costs and Valuation Metrics :

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscription required
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscription required
Subscription required - Subscription is required.


Proposed Heavy Mobile Equipment as of March 31, 2022:
HME TypeModelSizeQuantity
Compactor ....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required
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Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Mine Management:

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 4, 2023
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Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Staff:

EmployeesYear
Subscription required 2022

Corporate Filings & Presentations:

DocumentYear
Annual Report 2023
Corporate Presentation 2023
Press Release 2023
Annual Report 2022
Corporate Presentation 2022
Corporate Presentation 2022
Corporate Presentation 2022
Quarterly Report 2022
Sustainability Report 2022
Technical Report 2022
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
................................... Subscription required 2021
Feasibility Study Report 2018
Other 2018
Annual Report 2017
Feasibility Study Report 2013
Technical Report 2012
Subscription required - Subscription is required.

Subscription required - Subscription is required.

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