Galan’s ‘Greenbushes South’ project has big lithium potential

A review of historical data has enhanced the prospectivity of Galan Lithium’s (ASX:GLN) 43 km2 ‘Greenbushes South’ lithium project in WA.

In January 2021, Galan inked a deal with Lithium Australia (ASX:LIT) for an 80% interest in the ‘Greenbushes South’ project, located next door to the world largest hard rock lithium mine, Greenbushes.

Despite its location — covering the southern strike projection of the geological structure that hosts Greenbushes, ~3km south of the existing open pit — there are no available drilling results for lithium or lithium pathfinders, Galan says.

A CSIRO study, undertaken before the Greenbushes mine commenced production, confirmed that ‘Greenbushes South’ has the potential to host a large lithium discovery.

Galan will now augment this data set by extending the coverage of soil sampling on from the historical data sets, with a focus on the most anomalous area located to the north east of Greenbushes South holding.

Mapping and rock chip sampling will also be undertaken.

“The objective is to confirm historical data and define extensions of geochemical anomalies and therefore potential mineralisation into Galan’s Greenbushes South tenure,” the company says.

“These results would then be used to delineate potential targets for further exploration such as drilling.”

Developing Hombre Muerto West (HMW)

Galan’s main game is the flagship Hombre Muerto West (HMW) brine project in Argentina, a high-grade lithium resource ~7.5km long, up to ~2.5km wide and 718m deep.

A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released in December placed HMW in the lowest quartile of lithium carbonate projects for production costs, with a US$1 billion pre-tax net present value and an internal rate of return of 22.8 per cent.

HMW would produce lithium at about US$3518 per tonne – already one of the lowest cash cost points in the industry, against Roskill’s average long-term lithium carbonate price (2020-2040) of US$11,687/t.

Galan forecasts early HMW brine evaporation pilot works – a smaller version of the full scale project — to kick off in Q2 2021.

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.