Ducks are falling into line for Anson Resources which secured an important approval for its Green River lithium project. Pic: Getty Images
Anson Resources granted approval to dispose processed brine at Green River
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- Anson Resources secures approval to dispose processed brine from its Green River project into subsurface formations
- Brine must be returned to the same formation it was extracted from and have similar volume and geochemistry
- Conditions can be met by direct lithium extraction, which the company is planning to use to produce lithium carbonate
Special Report: Anson Resources has been granted the go ahead to dispose of processed brine at its Green River lithium project in Utah through the use of disposal wells on its purchased private property, securing an important approval ahead of future lithium production.
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality granted the application, which is based on the production of 10,000t of lithium carbonate per annum and the development of four disposal wells, following a public comment consideration.
Conditions attached to this approval are that the brine must be returned to the same formation it was extracted from, though not necessarily from the same horizon as extraction, whilst the disposed brine needs to have volume and geochemistry similar to the extracted brine.
This allows Anson Resources (ASX:ASN) to reinject spent brine from its direct lithium extraction processing plant back into subsurface formations.
It noted several historical plugged and abandoned oil and gas wells in the area intersected similar brine reservoirs and confirmed the existence of horizons that had been encountered in the Green River area, which can be used as disposal zones.
Some of these wells have already been converted into disposal wells, which indicates the ability for those horizons to absorb the waste brine.
Green River currently has a contained resource of 1.5Mt lithium carbonate equivalent along with an exploration target of 2–2.6Bt of brines grading 100-150ppm lithium and 2000ppm-3000ppm bromine.
“This approval from the Government of the State of Utah demonstrates that Anson can continue to progress the project at Green River by following the regulatory process,” executive chairman Bruce Richardson said.
“Progress in the past 12 months at Green River has been much faster than that of Paradox due to the ownership of the surface area and the support from the local and state government departments and representatives for which we are extremely grateful.
“The reinjection of the brine back into the geological formation from which it is originally extracted protects other minerals contained in the brine for future use.”
He added that the company continued to engage with the local community to ensure that the best options for developing the project into production are selected.
Disposal wells
ASN is planning to drill new disposal wells when it constructs its production plant as part of bringing Green River into production.
The disposal wells will be located on the private property recently purchased by the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Blackstone Minerals.
Spent brine will be pumped via the injection wells into the Paradox Reservoirs, at shallower horizons into the most permeable rock formations reducing the required pumping pressure.
Archaeological, environmental and site surveys have been conducted over the proposed areas.
These showed no issues with the already disturbed sites and the reports have already been submitted to the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining as part of the drilling application.
Drilling is designed to have as little impact on the environment, social and recreational activities as possible within the drill location areas. It is also expected to have minimal new ground disturbance as the drill pads will be located on flat ground in areas that have already been disturbed.
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.
