Lake Resources (ASX:LKE) has wrapped up its stage one extraction and injection test campaign at the Kachi lithium brine Project in Argentina.
The company, which has a market capitalisation of $298.71 million, will now move on to the next steps to support a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) for the project, which include detailed wellfield and injection design.
Lake says the ‘positive’ test results proved the concept of extraction and injection to support the production of high-purity battery-grade lithium carbonate at the project.
As part of the testwork, Lake injected 33 million litres of brine into the reservoir. The results from the testing allow the company to design scaled-up production and injection wells for the next stage of testing and production wellfield design.
The company adds the tests ‘significantly’ improve its understanding of the reservoir and provide data to support hydrogeological model development.
Shares in Lake Resources were up 23.81% to $0.26 at 1:00pm AEST.
Lake Resources Chief Executive Officer (CEO) David Dickson says: “The extraction and injection testing confirms highly favourable reservoir hydraulic properties and allows us to optimise the future wellfield.
“The results are indicative of high-yield, production-scale extraction wells in the core resource area”
The test represents a significant milestone for the project, as they provide important data and higher confidence for our modelling, which is essential for the completion of our DFS for phase one. The results are indicative of high-yield, production-scale extraction wells in the core resource area.”
The test wells were designed as extraction wells but were used for the dual purpose of extraction and injection in the stage one testing program.
Lake Resources says the primary objectives of the extraction and injections tests included quantifying hydraulic properties of the reservoir controlling well production and injection rates, testing the viability of injecting into the core resource area reservoir, and developing a robust dataset to support hydrogeologic modelling that will be used for wellfield design and reserve estimation.
The company’s flagship Kachi Project is situated in the Catamarca Province in Argentina.
Lake Resources is a lithium developer focused on direct extraction technology for the development of high-purity lithium from its flagship Kachi project alongside 3 other lithium brine projects in Argentina. The company’s portfolio of assets covers 2,200km-square within the lithium triangle.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Lake Resources
