Galan Lithium has hailed its latest flow rate pump test results from its Hombre Muerto West, or “HMW” lithium brine project, in Argentina as “outstanding”.
The second long-term pumping test, completed in October this year, follows on from earlier testing its Pata Pila pumping well where the company tabled bumper lithium grades of more than 910 milligrams per litre. The latest brine sampling at the nearby Rana de Sal zone has delivered further stellar lithium grades between 941 and 997 milligrams per litre at a constant flow rate of 25 litres per second.
A third long-term pumping test is in progress just over 900 metres away from the first Pata Pila pumping well. The company says testing at the well is nearing the mid-way mark and is running at a steady flow of 20 L/s.
The tests are crucial elements in the operational and commercial success of a lithium brine project and provide critical information on the behaviour of an aquifer during the extraction process.
Strong and consistent lithium grades in a pumping test suggest the potential for the battery metal to be abundant in an underground aquifer.
Encouragingly, the company says the flow and chemical results from the wells conceptually support its ambitions to ramp-up pilot plant production to 4ktpa lithium carbonate equivalent, or “LCE”.
Results from the three long-term pumping tests will feed into the HMW project mineral reserves estimation which is being spear-headed by mining consultancy group SRK Australia.
The company’s flagship resource tips the scales at 5.8 million tonnes of contained LCE grading 866 milligrams per litre – remarkably more than double the size of the previous resource of 2.2 million tonnes grading 946 milligrams per litre.
In addition to pump testing, work continues at a breakneck pace on multiple fronts as Galan looks to ring in the new year by delivering its definitive feasibility study on the project by the end of the first quarter.
Further afield, Galan continues to probe the depths of the lithium-rich brines flowing through its tenure, with diamond drilling wrapping up a new observation well at the Pucara del Salar tenement, located north of Rana de Sal. Drilling is also planned at the Santa Barbara southern tenements.
On the development front, two site-based brine evaporation batch tests have both achieved 6 per cent lithium concentration with low impurities. Management says the milestone results prove the planned brine evaporation path and validate the company’s process design and simulation model.
With plans advancing to upsize its original pilot plant to 4ktpa LCE, Galan is scheduled to commence continuous production of lithium concentrate by mid-2023. The brine concentrate is earmarked for potential off-take partners for conversion trials into high-quality lithium products.
Baseline studies have also been finalised with the company on track to deliver its environmental impact assessment, or “EIA” for the HMW project in the first quarter of 2023.
Galan Lithium Managing Director, Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said: “The HMW Project has the highest grade and lowest impurity lithium brine in Argentina. Our long-term pumping test work is delivering the targeted results at the same time as we are demonstrating the viability of our process design via successful site-based batch evaporation tests.”
China has recently extended its generous subsidy program for new energy vehicles until the end of 2023, contributing to more than 80 per cent increase in electric vehicle sales this year alone. The subsidy program is putting pressure on local battery manufacturers and helping to drive up the price of lithium. Whilst analysts ponder the long-term price of the in-vogue metal, Galan looks poised to supply a dented market of the critical metal.
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By Matt Birney
