The Salar de Atacama is a salt-encrusted depression in the Atacama Desert, within which lies an underground deposit of brines contained in porous sodium chloride rock fed by an underground inflow from the Andes mountains, which is the result of millions of years of climatic and tectonic impacts.

The Salar de Atacama is a closed fault-bounded basin. The basin receives detritus and runoff from the north and east. The majority of water delivered to the basin comes from the Rio San Pedro, which flows from the north into the Salar both as surface water and as subsurface flow. The largest contribution of water is geothermal effluent from the El Tatio geyser field north of Calama. Drainage contributions from the Cordillera Domeyko to the west are minimal to none, and drainage from high Andean tributaries to the east are local and seasonal.

The surface area that makes up the Atacama Lithium Project is dominantly mud flats and encrusted salts. A small perennial lake occurs where the Rio San Pedro enters the project area from the north. Several other small and seasonal lagoons and/or wet areas are commonly present in the mud flats farther south and east along the side of the Salar de Atacama. The northern area acts as a settling area for calcite, gypsum, borates and other precipitated minerals from the Rio San Pedro. The Project area is considered to be a brine concentrating area as well, allowing pure halite to crystallize in the south (Garrett, D.E, 2004).

Deposit Types
The deposit type being sought is lithium-potassium bearing brine at depth, similar to the brines being produced by SQM and Rockwood in the southern portion of the Salar de Atacama.

Lithium brine deposits are accumulations of saline groundwater that are enriched in lithium. Lithium brines generally occur in arid regions, where climate allows for evaporation of brines to concentrate lithium salts. Productive lithium brine deposits share several characteristics: (1) arid climate; (2) closed basin containing a playa or salar; (3) tectonically driven subsidence; (4) associated igneous or geothermal activity; (5) suitable lithium source-rocks; (6) one or more adequate brine aquifers; and (7) sufficient time to concentrate lithium in brine. Because the Salar de Atacama embodies these characteristics, and because lithium brine production occurs in the southern portion of the Salar de Atacama, a subsurface lithium brine aquifer is the target at the Atacama Lithium Project.

Mineralization
No lithium-bearing brine has been identified on the Project. There are indications from prior regional work, based on surface sampling and geophysical work that a brine aquifer may exist on the Project. The brine being sought is similar to the brines under production in the southern portion of the Salar de Atacama.

Integrated production process can be classified according to natural resources: brines from the Salar de Atacama, which contain potassium, lithium, sulfate, boron and magnesium.

Brines are pumped from depths of 15 to 150 meters below surface, through a field of wells that are located in the Salar de Atacama, distributed in areas authorized for exploitation, and which contain relatively high concentrations of potassium, lithium, sulfates, boron and other minerals. The brines are estimated to cover a surface of approximately 2,800 square kilometers and contain commercially exploitable deposits of potassium, lithium, sulfates and boron. Concentrations vary at different locations throughout the Salar de Atacama.

The products derived from the Salar de Atacama brines are potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, lithium sulfate, boric acid and bischofite (magnesium chloride).

Extraction process in Salar de Atacama
The brine is pumped from 35 m beneath the crust to evaporation ponds. These brine is concentrated by solar evaporation and wind from 0.18% Li y 2.5% en K to as 6% lithium, by means evaporation/precipitation steps. This technology involves several steps of successive evaporation of the original brine in different ponds with precipitation and harvesting of different salts (halite, silvinite, carnalite de K, bischoffite, carnalite de lithium). The evaporation/precipitation steps take up between 9 and 14 months from the beginning of the extraction process (brine pump out of the underground aquifers). The concentrated brine is transported at chemical Plant (outside to Salar), next to the city of Antofagasta, for treated with sodium carbonate (soda ash), thereby precipitating lithium carbonate. Chemical species that do not spontaneously precipitate in the ponds need to be removed by chemical treatment. Borates are usually removed by solvent extraction, while magnesium cations are removed by precipitation with lime. In case of lithium battery grade, the primary lithium carbonate is re-dissolved and reprecipitated to reach the purity needed.

The products derived from the Salar de Atacama brines are potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide, lithium chloride, lithium sulfate, boric acid and bischofite (magnesium chloride).

POTASSIUM CHLORIDE
Potassium chloride is used in the production of potassium nitrate.

In order to produce potassium chloride, brines from the Salar de Atacama are pumped to solar evaporation ponds. Evaporation of the water contained in the brine, results in a crystallized mixture of salts with various content levels of potassium, sodium and magnesium. In the first stage of the evaporation process, sodium chloride salts (halite) precipitate, they are then harvested are removed; these salts are not used in the production process of other products. In the second stage of the evaporation process, the remaining brine from the first stage is transferred to other evaporation ponds where potassium chloride salts together with sodium chloride (silvini ........