The Solaroz Lithium Project is 100% held by Solaroz S.A., which is owned 90% by LE Operations Pty Ltd (a wholly owned subsidiary of Lithium Energy Limited) and 10% by Hanaq Argentina S.A.
On 30 April 2024, Lithium Energy announced the sale of its interest in the Solaroz Project to a subsidiary of CNGR Advanced Materials Co Ltd (CNGR). On 6 December 2024, Lithium Energy announced amended Soloraz sale terms (with completion in two tranches (April 2025 and January 2026) and with no change to the total cash consideration). Lithium Energy shareholders approved the proposed sale of Solaroz.
Under the terms of an amended sale agreement between Lithium Energy and CNGR Netherlands New Energy Technology B.V. (CNNET) for the sale of the whole of Lithium Energy's interest in Solaroz, CNNET is responsible for funding the local operations and next phases of development at Solaroz from 1 January 2025.
- subscription is required.
Summary:
The Solaroz concessions overlap into the visible white halite salt layer of the 'Salar' (salt lake) and extend as substantial flat areas with 1-2 metres of elevation to the visible halite area, providing a favourable location and topography for the construction of evaporation ponds.
Lithium Energy has completed 8 diamond drill holes (SOZDD001 to SOZDD008) and one rotary hole (SOZDD04R, which was a twin of diamond hole SOZDD004) to date, for a total of ~5,087 metres). There are 6 diamond holes in the Central Block (Chico I, IV and V concessions) and one hole each in the southern Mario Angel concession the Payo 1 concession (in the Northern Block). This initial resource definition drilling programme was designed to target areas identified as having thick sequences of brine in the Transient Electromagnetic geophysics (TEM), which has been confirmed by the drilling. Down-hole geophysics has also been conducted on relevant holes, providing detailed characterisation of the lithologies encountered in the holes. The Geological Model for Solaroz was derived from the Company's extensive geophysical surveys and historical third-party exploration.
Drilling has encountered an upper sand and gravel sequence (Unit A or Upper Aquifer) related to the current alluvial fan landform. This overlies a halite (common salt) unit (Unit B) identified in four of the drill holes, which is correlated with the extensive salt unit identified by Allkem and Lithium Argentina extending through the Olaroz Salar and Salar de Cauchari salt lakes. Beneath the halite there is another extensive sequence of gravel and sand (Unit C or Lower Aquifer / Deep Sand Unit), extending to what is interpreted as Tertiary bedrock at depths exceeding 500 metres.
Lithium Energy's interpretation of the Olaroz Salar basin architecture is a three layer model overlying the Tertiary and Ordovician bedrock. At Solaroz, the upper sands and gravels (Unit A) are coarser grained sediments deposited in the alluvial fan, whereas in the Olaroz Salar, the sediments are finer grained clays and sands. The halite unit encountered in Allkem's Olaroz Project and Lithium Argentina's Cauchari-Olaroz Project is the same as encountered in Solaroz (Unit B), dividing an upper and lower sequence of clastic sediments. The gravels and sands beneath the halite (Unit C) are coarser equivalents to the highly productive deep sand unit encountered in Olaroz and Cauchari. Beneath Unit C, the Tertiary bedrock displays a moderate specific yield and brine samples have slightly higher lithium concentrations than the overlying Unit C.
The Salar de Olaroz originated as a structurally bounded, closed basin during the late Paleogene-Early Neogene. During much of the Miocene it appears to have slowly filled with medium to coarse grained alluvial fans and talus slopes eroded from the surrounding mountain ranges. As accommodation space was filled the sediments became progressively finer grained, braidplain, sandflat, playa and fluvial architectures are noted in the Upper Miocene and Pliocene. As the climate became more arid during the Pliocene evaporitic deposits first appeared. Normal faulting created additional accommodation space probably initiated at this time too.
The lowest drilled sediments indicate an arid climate with abundant halite. These Units are probably Pleistocene in age and are likely contiguous with the lowest drilled and reported sediments in the Salar de Cauchari to the south, suggesting the two basins operated as a continuous hydrologic entity at that stage. Succeeding Units suggest continued subsidence in the centre of the basin, with a climate that was variable, but never as arid as during the period dominated by the abundant Halite development. Influx of water and sediment is primarily from the Rosario catchment at the north of Salar de Olaroz and alluvial fans around the edge of the basin.
At depth a thick highly porous sand aquifer has been intersected in both the Salar de Cauchari (by Lithium Argentina) and the Salar de Olaroz (by Orocobre).
The significance of the ‘Deep Sand Unit’ is that sands of this type have free draining porosity of up to 25%, based on previous third party test work, and the sands unit could hold significant volumes of lithiumbearing brine which could be added to the resource base by future drilling.
Dimensions
The lateral extent of the Mineral Resource estimate has been defined. by the boundary of the Solaroz Concessions and the extent of the brine, as indicated by the TEM geophysics.
The brine mineralisation in the resource model covers an area of 46.18 km² (4,618 ha) for the Indicated Resource, in the Central Block. The Inferred Resource consists of 3.64 km² (364ha) in the southern Mario Angel concession, 4.13 km² (413 ha) in the North of the Central Block and 27.07 km² (2,707 ha) in the Northern Block. The combined total resource area is 73.25 km² (7,325 ha).
The top of the geological model coincides with the topography obtained from the Also Palsar imagery. The original elevations were locally adjusted for each drill hole collar with the most accurate coordinates available. The top of the brine is based on interpretation. of the geophysics and the intersections in the drill holes of brine, with a concentration of 200 mS/cm or more.
The depth to the top of the brine increases further from the salar, at higher elevations and because brine is further below ground surface further from the salar, where brine is formed. Such a deepening with greater depth from the salar is expected and observed in other salt lake basins. In hole SOZDD002, the brine concentration is low, as Unit A directly overlies bedrock and the deeper Units B, C and D, which have higher lithium concentrations, are not present. The base of the Mineral Resource is limited by the interpreted bedrock surface, which is based on the passive seismic survey and the intersections of the interpreted bedrock rocks in drill holes.