- Lithium
demand continues to grow, partly fueled by Chinese EV production
- Local
community gives consent for drilling at 3,500 hectare Ollagüe Project
- Early
assays at Ollagüe yield samples with significant lithium values
Recent news from the Lithium Triangle shows that Lithium
Chile Inc. (TSX.V: LITH) (OTC: LTMCF) is advancing its efforts to produce the
precious mineral, which continues to experience demand pressure. The Canadian
mining company recently announced that it had received authorization from the
Ollagüe (O-YA-GWAY) community to begin an exploration drilling program at its
project there, which extends for 3,500 hectares on the Salar de Ollagüe. Early
assays have been promising, yielding samples with significant lithium values.
These findings boost Lithium Chile’s credentials as a future supplier. The
company now owns 15 projects, encompassing 152,900 hectares on lithium-rich
salars and lagunas in Chile. It is the owner of the largest privately owned
portfolio of lithium claims in Chile.
Lithium continues its celebrity status as global electric
vehicle (EV) adoption rises. In the world’s largest market, China, this
embracement is supported by central and provincial governments, which are
offering a range of subsidies to Chinese manufacturers. As a result, China’s
electric car market is growing twice as fast as that of the U.S., according to
a report in the South China Morning Post (http://ibn.fm/peg7Q). That rapid growth is likely to be
maintained for quite a while. Motor vehicle market penetration in China, at
present, is a paltry 154 units per 1,000 people; in the U.S., the comparable
figure, 910, is almost six times as high. Moreover, at 1.4 billion, the Chinese
population is about four times the size of the U.S. population. Together, these
two factors suggest that China’s voracious appetite for lithium will continue
to maintain a tight market, with lithium prices continuing at their exalted
levels. Global lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) contract prices are around
$16,000 per metric ton; they have risen about 20 percent over the past year.
Lithium Chile plans to be part of that supply chain. The
company now has a lithium property portfolio consisting of 14 salars and one
laguna complex in Chile. The properties include 64 square kilometers on
the Salar de Atacama, which hosts the world’s highest concentration of lithium
brine production and is currently the source of approximately 30 percent of the
world’s lithium production. Lithium Chile’s extensive holdings are the largest
held by any private pure play lithium operator. Extending over 152,900 hectares
(590 square miles), the claims cover an area much larger than Hong Kong, at 424
square miles.
Lithium Chile Inc. has commenced a four-hole drill program
at its Ollague project in Chile, where a recently completed sampling program
encountered lithium brines assaying from 160 milligrams per liter to a high of
1,220 mg/L.
The Ollagüe Project, which covers some 3,500 hectares (13.5
square miles) on the Salar de Ollagüe, is close to the town of Ollagüe, which,
surprisingly for its remote location, boasts a great deal of infrastructure.
For example, since the late nineteenth century, a railway has joined Ollagüe to
the Chilean port of Antofagasta, 3,696 miles away.
A comprehensive sampling program has encountered
near-surface lithium brines assaying from 160 to 1,140 mg per liter of lithium,
with good chemistries. In addition, recent old water well sampling has
encountered sub-surface lithium bearing brines assaying 180 to 1,220 mg per
liter of lithium.
A property-wide transient electromagnetic survey (TEM) has
identified several large, high-priority target areas. The TEM, covering 25
square kilometers of the Ollagüe project, has indicated a number of continuous
conductive units over much of the property (http://ibn.fm/l2Bx8). The TEM survey also indicated these
conductive units to be open-ended horizontal zones varying from 20 to over 200
meters in thickness and within 20 to 120 meters of surface. Lithium Chile
believes that the zones reflect saline aquifers, since, generally, they exhibit
resistivity values of less than three ohms. Highly conductive readings have
generally been found to indicate a high content of lithium brine in most other
salar basins in the area. The presence of lithium lowers the resistivity of
water to electricity, so heightened conductivity may indicate the presence of
lithium
For more information, visit the company’s website at http://ibn.fm/LTMCF
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