Mining Intelligence and News
Argentina

Cauchari Project

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Categories

Overview

Mine TypeIn-Situ
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • Lithium
Mining Method
  • Brine mining
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SnapshotThe Cauchari Project is a planned lithium brine mining and processing facility that will produce lithium carbonate.

With similar chemistry to the nearby Olaroz facility, the Cauchari Project will enable compatible, efficient development and processing between the two sites.

In September 2019 the Project submitted an Environmental Baseline for the Exploitation stage which to date is under evaluation by the provincial mining authority.

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Arcadium Lithium plc 100 % Indirect
Cauchari project is wholly owned by Arcadium Lithium plc.

Deposit type

  • Brine
  • Evaporite

Summary:

Salars occur in closed (endorheic) basins without external drainage, in dry desert regions where evaporation rates exceed stream and groundwater recharge rates, preventing lakes from reaching the size necessary to form outlet streams or rivers. Evaporative concentration of surface water over time in these basins leads to residual concentration of dissolved salts (Bradley et al., 2013) to develop saline brines enriched in one or more of the following constituents: sodium, potassium, chloride, sulfate, carbonate species, and, in some basins, metals such as boron and lithium. Salar de Cauchari is a brine deposit with enriched concentrations of lithium and potassium.

The Cauchari project is a lithium salt lake deposit, located in a closed basin in the Andean mountain range in Northern Argentina.

The sediments within the salar consist of halite, clay, silt, sand and gravel which have accumulated in the salar from terrestrial sedimentation from the sides of the basin. Brine hosting dissolved lithium is present in pore spaces and fractures within unconsolidated sediments.

Evaporation of brines entering and within the salt lake generates the concentrated lithium that is extracted by pumping out the brine.

The sediments are interpreted to be essentially flat lying with unconfined aquifer conditions close to surface and semi-confined to confined conditions at depth.

Salar de Cauchari is a mixed style salar, with a halite nucleus in the centre of the Salar overlain with up to 50 m of fine grained (clay) sediments. The halite core is interbedded with clayey to silty and sandy layers. The Salar is surrounded by relative coarse grained alluvial and fluvial sediments. These fans demark the perimeter of the actual Salar visible in satellite images and at depth extend towards the centre of the Salar where they form the distal facies with an increase in sand and silt. At depth (between 300 m and 600 m) a deep sand unit has been intercepted in several core holes in the SE Sector of the Project area.

The brines from Salar de Cauchari are solutions nearly saturated in sodium chloride with an average concentration of total dissolved solids (“TDS”) of 290 g/l. The average density is 1.19 g/cm3. Components present in the Cauchari brine are potassium, lithium, magnesium, calcium, chloride, sulphate, bicarbonate and boron.

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 25,000740,072
All production numbers are expressed as carbonate.

Operational metrics

Metrics
Annual production capacity  ....  Subscribe
Annual brine extraction  ....  Subscribe
Brine extraction, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2023 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Site cash costs (produced) Li2CO3 USD  ....  Subscribe
Cash costs 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
Closure costs $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
G&A costs $M USD 441
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Operating margin, %  ......  Subscribe
EBITDA (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNameProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 2, 2024
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Nov 15, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 30, 2023
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 2, 2024

Total WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2023

Aerial view:

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