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Lithium South is the 100% owner of the Hombre Muerto North Lithium Project. The project is being acquired through a purchase option agreement from a private borate producer from Salta, Argentina.
Contractors
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Summary:
The deposit type is a brine aquifer within a salar basin. The conceptual model for the Hombre Muerto basin, and for its brine aquifer, is based on exploration of similar salar basins in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. Salar basins are characterized by closed topography and interior drainage. The lowest exposed portions of these basins may contain salt encrusted playas, or “salars”. Typically, no significant groundwater discharges from these basins as underflow. All groundwater discharge that occurs within the basin is evaporated. All surface water that flows into the basin is either evaporated directly or enters the groundwater circulation system and is evaporated at a later time.
Salar basin locations and basin depths are typically structurally controlled but may be influenced by volcanism that may alter drainage patterns. Basin-fill deposits within salar basins typically contain thin to thickly bedded evaporite deposits in the deeper, low-energy portion of the basin, together with thin to thickly bedded low-permeability lacustrine clays. Coarser-grained, higher permeability deposits associated with active alluvial fans can typically be observed along the edges of the salar. Similar alluvial fan deposits, associated with ancient drainages, may occur buried within the basin-fill deposits. Other permeable basin-fill deposits which may occur within salar basins include pyroclastic deposits, ignimbrite flows, lava-flow rocks, and spring deposits.
The Hombre ........
Summary:
Well holes with internal pumps will be used to transfer brine to one of three pre-concentration ponds located near the processing plant. At present there are two holes on the property that are drilled to 400 m depth and are suitable for production brine pumping. An estimated 100 L/s of brine will be required to feed the ponds and processing plant sufficiently to achieve the targeted production rate of 5,000 t/a of Li2CO3. Three well holes will be required to achieve this rate. An additional four holes will be drilled during the pre-production period, bringing the total to six and providing double the well requirement as a contingency.
A production rate of 5,000 t/a of Li2CO3 has been targeted for the project. This rate was selected as a reasonable starting level of production, with the potential for expansion once commercial production and/or payback has been achieved.
A 30-year production forecast was assumed for the Project. A production rate of 3,750 t/a was assumed for the first operating year (75% of full production) and a rate of 4,500 t/a was assumed for the second year of operations (90% of full production). All remaining years were scheduled at the full production rate.
The production forecast therefore contemplates a total extraction of 148 kt of Li2CO3 equivalent, approximately 56% of the resource.
Pumping and Piping Configuration
Access to the extraction wells is provided by a 4.5 km road, built with compacted granu ........
Flow Sheet:
Summary:
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Pipelines and Water Supply
Source:
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Projected Production:
Commodity | Units | Avg. Annual | LOM |
Lithium
|
kt
| 5 | 148 |
All production numbers are expressed as carbonate.
Operational Metrics:
Metrics | |
Annual production capacity
| 5,360 t of lithium carbonate * |
Annual processing rate
| 2,957,033 t * |
Daily brine extraction
| 8,400 m3 * |
* According to 2019 study.
Reserves at June 3, 2019:
Cut-off grade: 500 mg/L lithium.
Category | Tonnage | Commodity | Grade | Contained Metal |
Measured
|
119,862,077 m3
|
Lithium
|
797 mg/L
|
95,556 t
|
Measured
|
119,862,077 m3
|
Potassium
|
7039 mg/L
|
843,671 t
|
Measured
|
119,862,077 m3
|
Li2CO3
|
|
508,627 t
|
Measured
|
119,862,077 m3
|
KCl
|
|
1,608,881 t
|
Indicated
|
21,936,404 m3
|
Lithium
|
534 mg/L
|
11,714 t
|
Indicated
|
21,936,404 m3
|
Potassium
|
5517 mg/L
|
121,023 t
|
Indicated
|
21,936,404 m3
|
Li2CO3
|
|
62,351 t
|
Indicated
|
21,936,404 m3
|
KCl
|
|
230,791 t
|
Measured & Indicated
|
141,798,481 m3
|
Lithium
|
756 mg/L
|
107,270 t
|
Measured & Indicated
|
141,798,481 m3
|
Potassium
|
6803 mg/L
|
964,694 t
|
Measured & Indicated
|
141,798,481 m3
|
Li2CO3
|
|
570,979 t
|
Measured & Indicated
|
141,798,481 m3
|
KCl
|
|
1,839,672 t
|
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