Galan pushes close to lithium brines DFS in Argentina

Galan Lithium is adding the final touches to an optimised two-phase definitive feasibility study (DFS) at one of its two lithium brines project in Argentina.

The company is also considering its third and fourth phases that will ramp up production to as much as 60 kilotonnes per annum of lithium chloride concentrate equivalent (LCE).

Galan has two world-class operations in the South American region known as the “Lithium triangle” – its Hombre Muerto West and Candelas projects on the Hombre Muerto salar, which hosts the highest grade and lowest impurity levels of all lithium brines in Argentina. It is a region that hosts established lithium brine operations at Livent Corporation’s El Fenix, Allkem’s Sal de Vida and POSCO’s Sal de Oro projects.

With an updated 6.6-million-tonne LCE mineral resource estimate in hand and a freshly topped-up bank account, the company is powering ahead with the initial two-phase DFS for Hombre Muerto West that it announced in March. The first phase is now set for “imminent” release, with Galan finalising project costings ahead of the second phase, which is slated for an August release.

The initial DFS focuses on only the first production phase, where Galan expects to produce 4 kilotonnes a year of LCE equivalent– a figure that is in line for production permits due to be approved later this month.  A 4000-tonne per annum lithium carbonate pilot plant facility is currently under construction.

Meanwhile, ongoing DFS optimisation work will culminate in the release of a second phase that will address full production rates of 20 kilotonnes per annum LCE. But the company is also looking further ahead, undertaking more expansive studies on the back of its initial DFS and additional optimisation work to consider production phases three and four.

It is evaluating the potential for phase-three production from Hombre Muerto West to begin in 2028, with a projected 40 kilotonnes of LCE to be produced annually.

From there, management is planning to ramp up production even further to a combined 60 kilotonnes a year in 2030 from Hombre Muerto West and Candelas.

Galan last month increased its Hombre Muerto West mineral resource to 6.6 million tonnes of LCE at 880 milligrams per litre lithium. It brought the combined resources across Hombre Muerto West and Candelas to 7.3 million tonnes at 852mg/l lithium – making it one of Argentina’s highest-grade lithium resources.

The company is continuing exploration activities as it seeks to consolidate its tenements and potentially further boost its lithium resources.

Last month also saw institutional investors stump up $31.5 million in a strongly-supported institutional placement at $1.05 per share. That, plus talk of a share purchase plan to raise a further $5 million, provides the company with the funding to accelerate its two-stage DFS and to buy long lead items for its proposed lithium carbonate pilot plant.

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