Galan Lithium has tabled an “outstanding” set of well results after an initial pumping test at its wholly owned Hombre Muerto West, or “HMW” lithium brine project in Argentina's Catamarca Province. According to the company, the bumper grades, porosity and flow tolls will roll into a definitive feasibility study, or “DFS” for the operation, earmarked for later this year
Perth-based Galan has previously said its test work is aimed at funnelling project-critical data into its reserve model that will be helmed by mining consultancy group SRK Australia.
The preliminary test data at its first Pata Pila pumping well underlined the operation’s potential, with brine sampling confirming a high-grade resource with a result of more than 910 milligrams per litre.
Subsequent hydraulic testing highlighted the aquifer’s ability to punch out a high-volume product with between 15–20 litres of fluid flow per second.
The company has already kicked off longer-term pumping tests at the well and expects them to run for about 30 days. Galan says the early signs of the longer test work look good, with flow rates holding steady.
Management has indicated the well’s brine levels along with samples for geochemical analysis will be continuously collected throughout its testing program.
In addition to the pumping tests, Galan has got its hands on its first batch of relative brine release capacity test, or “RBRC” data for 20 core samples acquired from its Pata Pila diamond hole.
The company says the RBRC results are encouraging given the particular yield values are in line with those reported in earlier logging of the ground’s medium-to-fine-grained sand lithologies, significant markers of producing brine aquifers.
The mean yield value for the RBRC was 14.1 per cent, whilst the specific values varied from 10.1 to 21.0 per cent.
Galan will now look to complete pumping tests at a second well at Pata Pila and two wells at the nearby Rana de Sal zone.
The company says a second batch of almost 40 core samples has already been bagged from Pata Pila and Rana de Sal.
Galan Lithium’s Managing Director, Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said: “We are extremely pleased with the outcomes from the three-day constant rate pump test at the first Pata Pila well, PPB-01-21. High lithium grades, porosity and brine flow rates are a powerful combination for driving operational efficiency and economic performance. These outstanding hydrological outcomes are paramount to the project DFS foundations and further validates the world-class nature of the lithium brine resource we hold at HMW.”
Galan’s pumping tests come after extensional drilling at HMW and further emphasised the project’s ability to house a significant lithium brine resource.
Results of the drilling campaign indicated the company had pushed the limits of its existing brine by 800m to close within earshot of revered New York Stock Exchange-listed Livent Corporation’s tenement boundary.
Livent’s tenure boasts more than 25-years of large-scale lithium production and is one of a number of battery metal players to have pegged ground within a 20km radius of HMW.
A further objective of the drilling campaign was to update the company's hydrogeological models and increase its understanding of the Pata Pila licence zone in order to confirm reserve estimates at HMW.
According to Galan, HMW currently possesses a lithium equivalent resource that runs beyond 2 million tonnes.
The company says its assets at HMW are among the best brine projects in the world and with leading lithium grades, plenty of opportunity to extend an already large resource a patch of dirt that has historically delivered the goods, the operation could be one to keep an eye on.
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By Matt Birney
