Galan grants Hatch for Hombre Muerto West feasibility study

Galan has awarded global consultancy Hatch with the contract to carry out the key feasibility study for its Hombre Muerto West lithium brine project in Argentina.

Hatch is a well-regarded multidisciplinary management, engineering and development consultancy with a global network of 9,000 professionals in 150 countries and counts key global mining giants among its clients.

Hatch will work with Galan Lithium’s (ASX:GLN) other consultants such as Ad-Infinitum, SRK and WSP to deliver the feasibility study for the project in late Q4 2022.

Key analysis

The company recently started construction of pilot evaporation ponds at the project.

“We have been through a very thorough Feasibility Study tender, review and analysis process and are extremely delighted to award this work to Hatch,” managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said.

“Their industry experience and support network are second to none and their vision and values very much align with those of Galan.

“They are a welcome addition to the team, and we look forward to working with Hatch in this important phase of the development of the HMW project.”

My lithium hombre

Hombre Muerto West currently hosts a resource of 2.3 million tonnes lithium carbonate equivalent at a grade of 946mg/l lithium within Argentina’s Hombre Muerto West salt flat in the South American lithium triangle.

The company recently updated the project’s Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) study to account for the expected increase in the long-term average real lithium price assumption to US$18,594/tonne for the period of 2025 to 2040, up from the US$11,687/tonne in 2040 estimate that it had previously used.

This has resulted in a 120% increase in the unleveraged pre-tax net present value (NPV) of the project to US$2.2 billion while internal rate of return is now 37.5%.

This article was developed in collaboration with Galan Lithium, 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.