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Mining
Galan Lithium’s Hombre Muerto West Project is making significant headway on the ground in Argentina as new resource targets are identified.
A definitive feasibility study (DFS) led by leading global engineering group, Hatch, has seen the completion of early workstreams at Hombre Muerto West (HMW) including various trade-off analyses for the location of infrastructure and process design.
Work has kicked off on detailed facilities design and the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has started with regular interaction between all key stakeholders taking placing on an ongoing basis, Galan (ASX:GLN) says.
So far, the DFS is on time and on budget, ready for completion by the end of CY2022.
GLN managing director JP Vargas de la Vega said he has spent the past few months on the ground in Argentina and Chile working with government authorities and the local communities, with the project “progressing strongly on all fronts.”
“My meetings with local Catamarca authorities saw evidence of excellent governmental and community support for the Hombre Muerto West and Candelas Projects,” he said.
“We are proud to be rapidly advancing projects that offer such economic and social benefits to the broader regions in which they are located.”
He added that despite the logistical challenges posed by COVID-19, key activities at the HMW project remain on track and on budget.
“It is also pleasing to be able to demonstrate the further potential mineral resource upside evidenced by the recent TEM geophysical survey,” de la Vega added.
“We look forward to aggressively drilling these new target zones from next quarter and through the rest of 2022.”
Meanwhile, pilot plant work is progressing with the completion of construction works at the evaporation pond, covering around 3,000m.
Brine filling has now begun, marking a major milestone given that is signals the beginning of large-scale piloting activities at Hombre Muerto West (HMW).
GLN says the data set to be obtained from the initial evaporation trial will allow the calibration of the simulation model to predict the completion time for achieving the first batch of brine concentrate with 6% of lithium contents produced by the pilot plant.
An exploration diamond drillhole, EXP-002, is underway at Pata Pila and expected to provide key geological data for testing extension to the existing mineral resource in both horizonal and vertical dimensions.
GLN says this drillhole is “strategically located on higher ground” and around 1km west from the Livent tenement boundary.
A new expanded camp at HMW has been operational since mid-January 2022 with an additional 20,000 litre diesel tank and residual storage area recently constructed.
Quantec Geoscience Argentina S.A. recently completed nearly 32km of Transient Electromagnetic (TEM) surveying, spanning across the Rana de Sal, Pucara del Salar, Casa del Inca III, and Pata Pila tenements.
The TEM method provides information on the electric resistivity in the subsurface and is a well-suited method for lithium brine exploration, GLN says.
Galan’s lithium brine consultants, WSP, then integrated the widespread coverage of this new survey with the existing HMW data from past Quantec CSAMT geophysical surveys.
The TEM survey was able to image beneath recent lava flows to reveal a potentially significant brine body extension
WSP’s new model has identified potential new mineral resource zones in Pucará del Salar, as well as the recently acquired Casa del Inca II.
Exploration diamond drilling of these new target zones is planned to kick off in Q2.
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.
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