Prospective Greenfield Lithium Project in N.Chile

RNS Number : 3775Q

CleanTech Lithium PLC

28 June 2022

 

To view the announcement with pictures of Llamara Project location and the Historical Geophysics Lines Intersecting Licence Applications please click this link: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3775Q_1-2022-6-27.pdf

28.06.2022

CleanTech Lithium PLC

 ("CleanTech Lithium" or the "Company")

Prospective Greenfield Lithium Project in Northern Chile

CleanTech Lithium PLC (AIM: CTL), an exploration and development company, advancing the next generation of sustainable lithium projects in Chile, announces it has applied for 119 new exploration licences, covering a total area of over 600km², which constitute the Llamara Project.

Highlights

· The Llamara Project is located within the highly prospective Lithium Triangle in Chile, 600km north of the Company´s two flagship projects, Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin

· The projects relatively low altitude of 1,100m allows for year-round exploration which can continue during the winter break in site operations at Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin

· The licence area covers >600km² within a large basin

· Historical geophysics lines by an oil exploration company indicate an extensive deep brine aquifer in the project area with an aquifer thickness of several hundred meters

· The aquifer has not been drilled or measured for lithium, however highly elevated lithium concentrations have been recorded in surface salt crusts and clay deposits, indicating a lithium source within the basin

· The licences, which cover a 4-year exploration period, require minimal financial and work commitments over the next 18 month with application costs of less than US$100,000

· This is a greenfield project that compliments existing projects and offers additional exploration potential - if a lithium resource is established, the project would leverage the Company´s proprietary DLE process

· An initial work programme will involve geophysics to determine drilling targets, which will be tested initially by the drilling of a low-cost exploration drill hole.

Commenting, Aldo Boitano, Chief Executive Officer, of CleanTech Lithium PLC, said: "These licences add longer-term exploration potential to the near-term lithium production and cashflow potential of our existing flagship projects - Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin. We have been looking at these licences for some time and believe they help further our foothold in the prospective lithium triangle of northern Chile. With low upfront costs and minimal near and medium-term commitments there is a strong case for adding this project to the existing portfolio, the development of which remains the Company´s absolute focus."

Further Information

Llamara Project - New Licence Applications

The Company recently submitted 119 licence applications within the Pampa del Tamarugal basin in northern Chile, in the area of the Llamara salar.  The location is approximately 600km north of the Company´s current projects.  The licences will remain applications until they are granted, which generally takes six months. The licences, which cover a 4-year exploration period, require minimal financial and work commitments over the next 18 months and cost less than US$100,000 to obtain. 

Geological Overview

Llamara is the southernmost of four salars within the Pampa del Tamarugal, a sedimentary basin on the west flank of the Andes Mountains in northern Chile.  The Pampa del Tamarugal is one of the largest internal drainage basins in the Lithium Triangle with an area of 17,150km² and a basin fill with a central axis that reaches 1,000 - 1,800m thick. 

In the area of the licence applications two historical geophysics lines based on transient electromagnetics (TEM) were completed by an oil exploration company.  TEM based geophysics provide a resistivity signal with the lowest resistivity correlated to brine aquifers, as dissolved salt ions in brine are highly transmissive.  The lowest resistivity band is shown by the light magenta colour scheme representing resistivity of <1.0 Ohm-m.  This indicates the brine aquifer has an approximate starting depth of 200m and thickness of 250m which is open at depth. 

The lithium enrichment of the brine aquifer is unknown as the only historical drill hole that intersected the aquifer did not sample the brine for lithium.  However, third party reports state lithium concentrations from sampling of surface salt crusts within the basin, with peak  values of 3,100 ppm Li and 2,630ppm Li, and sampling of clay enriched layers in the Llamara sector of the basin, with values between 1,800 - 2,400 ppm Li.  The above reported lithium concentrations are from evaporitic deposits, or formed by the evaporation of brine, indicating there is a lithium source within the basin and supporting the exploration potential of the sub-surface brine aquifer.

Strategic Long-Term Addition to Complement Established Projects

Being a greenfield lithium project, Llamara provides the Company with additional exploration potential and if a lithium resource is generated, the potential to further utilise the Company´s proprietary DLE based processing method.  The project area allows for year-round exploration which complements the Company's established projects, Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin, where the period from mid-May to late September is a winter break due to the challenges of drilling during the high-altitude winter weather conditions.  In the first year a limited work programme is planned for the project which will involve surface sampling, a geophysics programme and an initial exploration drill hole, with fieldwork to be concentrated in the winter months. The Company remains highly focused on development of the Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin projects.

Competent Person

The information in this release relating to the Geological Overview is based on information reviewed by Christian Gert Feddersen Welkner, who is an independent Qualified Person to the Company and is a Member of Comision Calificadora de Competencias en Recursos y Reservas Mineras Chile that is a 'Recognised Professional Organisation' (RPO). Mr Feddersen has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralization and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Mr Feddersen consents to the inclusion in the press release of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

For further information contact:
CleanTech Lithium PLC
Aldo Boitano	Jersey office: [phone] Chile office: [phone]
	Or via Celicourt
Celicourt Communications	[phone]
Felicity Winkles/Philip Dennis	[e-mail]
Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser) Roland Cornish	[phone]
Fox-Davies Capital Limited (Broker)	[phone]
Daniel Fox-Davies	[e-mail]

Notes

CleanTech Lithium (AIM: CTL) is an exploration and development company, advancing the next generation of sustainable lithium projects in Chile.  The Company's mission is to produce commercial quantities of battery grade lithium, with near zero carbon emissions and low environmental impact , offering the EU EV market a green lithium supply solution.

CleanTech Lithium has two established lithium projects - Laguna Verde and Francisco Basin, and an exploration project - Llamara, located in the l ithium triangle, the world's centre for battery grade lithium production . They are situated within basins entirely controlled by the Company, which affords significant potential development and operational advantages. The projects have direct access to excellent infrastructure and renewable power.

CleanTech Lithium is committed to using renewable power for processing and reducing the environmental impact of its lithium production by utilising Direct Lithium Extraction. Direct Lithium Extraction is a transformative technology which only removes lithium from brine, with higher recoveries and purities. The method offers short development lead times, with no evaporation pond development so there is no water depletion from the aquifer or harm to the local environment.

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