Galan Lithium has extended a 2019 resource estimate for its Candelas resource in Argentina from 685 kilotonnes (Kt) lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) to 1634kt LCE, an impressive increase of more than 138 per cent.
Perth-based SRK Consulting’s recent upgrade estimates the Candelas LCE mineral resource categories at an indicated 1284kt and an inferred 350kt, for a total of 1634kt, boosting Galan’s total combined resource for its Candelas and nearby Hombre Muerto West projects to 9501kt LCE.
The resource upgrade arises from Galan’s surface mapping and geophysical surveying of the project late last year. The resulting new data was incorporated by SRK into its new resource estimation.
Galan’s November 2021 preliminary economic assessment for Candelas and SRK’s latest resource upgrade both used a 500 milligrams per litre cut-off grade for the 2019 685kt LCE estimate.
Galan’s adjacent Hombre Muerto West total resource estimate remains unchanged at 7867kt LCE since March last year, however, its recent Candelas resource upgrade to 1634kt has lifted the company’s entire combined resource endowment for the two projects to 9501kt LCE.
The enhanced Candelas resource estimate represents a significant boost to the economic potential of the individual and combined projects in the Hombre Muerto West system, which the company says is among the world’s top 10 lithium construction and production projects.
Galan Lithium managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said: “Applying sound geoscientific knowledge and modern exploration techniques to a world-class lithium resource has continued to deliver outstanding results for Galan. We identified the potential to add significant value-accretive LCE tonnes at Candelas on a very modest budget and have delivered on that opportunity.”
The latest resource estimation process incorporated relevant parts of the extensive knowledge and principles gained from Galan’s five-year development of Hombre Muerto West to the Candelas project.
In doing so, other potential pathways by which Candelas may be commercialised have become apparent, including more extensive evaporation systems and/or alternative lithium extraction technologies.
Armed with its new resource upgrade and brine modelling data at Candelas, Galan is looking at configuring its future exploration to address two key objectives - the first is to upgrade the Candelas indicated resource category to the measured category.
The second imperative will be to confirm the brine potential south of the current indicated resource. It is possible more drilling and other exploration might uncover additional resource potential in the central and southern parts of the Candelas ground.
Galan says regardless of the important resource upgrade at Candelas, the company will maintain its focus and momentum on the construction and operations of the initial phase of the Hombre Muerto West development and hold off on any major exploration at Candelas for the immediate future.
Galan said yesterday that it had received funds from Latam Resources, an affiliate of Chengdu Chemphys Chemical Industry, from a share placement announced by Galan last September. Chemphys agreed to subscribe for US$3 million ($A4,811,200) worth of shares under the terms of the placement.
The placement is significant in the context of the company’s announcement last August that it had entered into an off-take prepayment memorandum of understanding with Chemphys in which Galan would supply and Chemphys would purchase a total of 23,000 tonnes LCE, as a lithium chloride product, over the first five years of phase one production from Hombre Muerto West.
Chemphys would also provide Galan with a US$40m (A$64.15m) offtake pre-payment facility to continue developing phase one of the project.
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By Doug Bright
