Pantera Minerals (ASX:PFE) has secured an additional 3,700 acres, leased from several major mineral owners in the core target area, within the Smackover Brine Project area in Arkansas, US.
The company now covers 22,270 acres and the project is rapidly approaching 25,000 acres.
Pantera, which has a market capitalisation of $13.67 million, says the increased acreage continues to drive the company towards a scalable project with its conceptual estimate of one direct lithium extraction (DLE) production pad for every 6,500 acres based on projects in development elsewhere.
The company notes this suggests its conceptual production profile of up to four modules each produces 2,000 to 4,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate.
Executive Chairman Barnaby Egerton-Warburton says this means the company can continue to lease in the US new lithium heartland, the Smackover Play Arkansas.
“Our exclusive abstract agreement continues to allow us to lease with little to no competition as our focus moves towards drilling, exploration, and resource definition,” he says.
Pantera plans to complete the initial subsurface study, which is underway, by SLB. Results are expected in four weeks to identify optimal initial re-entry well.
The modelling will provide Pantera with clear drilling locations for the first re-entry and resource definition wells.
Once results are returned, the company will re-enter the identified well, which lies within the project’s leased position, to test grade, permeability, and porosity from the Smackover Formation.
Further, negotiations with a drill rig company are advancing for the first re-entry well planned for early Q3 2024.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Pantera Minerals
