Altamin has leveraged its familiarity with Italy to lodge applications for two exploration licences that are highly prospective for lithium in geothermal brines.

The licence applications cover more than 3,240 hectares in the southern end of the country’s premier geothermal field at Cesano just 50km north of Rome.

While the exploitation of the high-temperature geothermal waters at Cesano for electricity production is a mature and well understood industry in Italy, the reservoirs to the south are dominated by high salinity brines with correspondingly high mineral content.

Importantly for Altamin (ASX:AZI), more than 800 geothermal wells drilled in this part of Italy during the 1990s and the brines sampled in the vicinity of its licence applications contained high lithium values that could potentially be recovered.

This included test well Cesano C1 that yielded brines from a depth of 1,390m with a lithium content of 350 milligrams per litre (mg/l) and 380mg/l, well above the average 200mg/l concentrations of brines from the Salton Sea geothermal field in California that is regarded as the most significant lithium brine resource in the US.

Adding further interest, one of the licences is contiguous to, and immediately north and east of an EL granted to Vulcan Energy Resources (ASX: VUL), which seeks to produce lithium from geothermal brines in the Upper Rhine Valley of Germany.

Should the licences be granted, the company will seek to initially obtain and assess the historical geological and technical data from the geothermal wells on the property, including well C-16.

It will also assess the feasibility of resampling and full analysis of the geothermal brines from existing well-holes

 

Directors with skin in the game

Altamin’s directors have highlighted their confidence in the company and its flagship Gorno zinc project by committing to take up their full entitlements under the current $6.977m non-renounceable entitlement offer.

Non-executive chairman Alexander Burns and non-executive director Marcello Cardaci have committed to take up their full entitlements totalling $998,754.

Meanwhile, managing director Geraint Harris will in addition to taking up his full entitlements of $160,551, apply for additional shortfall shares for a total application commitment of $331,240.

 

Entitled and committed

This takes the total commitments by the company’s board up to about $1.33m.

The Victor Smorgon Group – Altamin’s largest shareholder – has also committed to taking up its full entitlement and will subscribe for shortfall shares subject to its shareholding not exceeding 19.99% of the company.

Proceeds from the entitlement offer will be used to help advance Gorno to a definitive feasibility level and conduct further diamond drilling with the goal of de-risking and expanding the existing resource of 7.8Mt grading 8.6% zinc+lead and 32 grams per tonne silver.

The company also expects to start exploration drilling at its Punta Corna project on receipt of drilling approvals.

This article was developed in collaboration with Altamin, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

Read MoreLithium

Featured Companies

You might be interested in