Armed with an existing resource in excess of one million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, Anson Resources is preparing to drill two wells in a bid to extend the resource at its Paradox project to the west.
Anson (ASX:ASN) is looking to extract lithium from brines contained in a historic oil well field in the Paradox Basin in southeastern Utah in the USA, placing it as one of the best positioned companies to benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act and push to grow America’s nascent lithium extraction industry.
Already boasting a JORC mineral resource of 1.04Mt LCE and 5.27Mt bromine, Anson is planning to re-enter two wells known as Mineral Canyon Fed 1-3 and Sunburst 1 to sample brines in the thick Mississippian units and Pennsylvania clastic horizons.
The aim is to further grow the resource, while in a two-pronged attack, drilling is also planned to commence at the Green River lithium project some 50km to the northwest.
Brines extracted from drilling at the Mineral Canyon and Sunburst wells will be tested for lithium, bromine, iodine and boron, less than 1000m from known lithium rich brines already sampled in the Big Flat area during historic oil and gas exploration.
A significant exploration target has been generated for the Western Strategy of 2.095-2.561Bt of brine at 108-200ppm Li and 2000-3000ppm bromine with a lithium carbonate equivalent tonnage of 1.116-2.723Mt.
Anson is aiming to increase its existing JORC resource with successful assays from the new drilling program.
Building a sustainable lithium project
The drill program to tap the western extensions of Paradox is a point for Anson’s ESG credentials.
Given drill pads are already established, ground disturbance will be minimised as they do not need to be excavated from scratch.
“The use of areas already subject to ground disturbance is consistent with Anson’s aim of developing a sustainable project and minimising environmental impact,” the company said.
To that end Anson has visited the Mineral Canyon and Sunburst well sites with personnel from US Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management, identifying the well locations are clearly marked and that drill pads for the re-entry can be readily re-establishing.
Both are also located adjacent to existing road infrastructure.
This article was developed in collaboration with Anson Resources, 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.